Pikiran-rakyat.com – Food Security in Bandung City: 96.4 Percent from Outside the City, Dangerous if a Disaster Occurs

PEOPLE'S MIND – Bandung City, West Java, faces a number of food security challenges. The government is considered to need to build risk mitigation and educate the public to maintain food availability when an earthquake occurs.

Humanis reported that the biggest problems and challenges in the Bandung City Food System include more than 96 percent of Bandung City's food providers depending on production from buffer areas and other regions.

In the field of distribution, the food system in Bandung City is reported to still be constrained by the lack of efficiency of the food distribution system which leads to uncertainty in the availability of food in the market and research and unstable prices. In addition, there are residents who have an abundance of food until finally the remaining food ends up as waste and there are residents who have difficulty getting food.

The lack of systemic understanding is also considered to be one of the problems and challenges that must be faced. Most of the community and main stakeholders of Sispang Bandung do not yet understand the relationship between the various components that support the food system.

"This partial understanding is also experienced by young people (who are mostly consumers in the food value chain). There are many strategic things that young people can do, including technical things such as opening up business opportunities, if they have a deep understanding of the integrative SisPang," said the Urban Futures report received.

Head of Distribution and Consumption (Food Security and Livestock Service) DKPP Bandung City Rima Rosmiati revealed that almost 96.4 percent of food in Bandung City is imported from outside the city. So, it must be a concern.

“What will happen if a disaster occurs?” he said in his speech at the Bandung City Food System Multi-Stakeholder Forum Workshop, a series of Urban Futures organized by Humanis, entitled Building a More Transformative Food System at the Oakwood Hotel, Bandung, on October 24, 2024.

Organized by Sinergantara, Rima hopes that the workshop will produce input that can be useful for the Bandung City food system.

Food in Bandung City from Outside the City

Bandung City Food Security Expert Ahmad Wahyudin is of the same opinion. He also said that food in Bandung City is produced from outside the city, such as from Cianjur, Bandung Regency, West Bandung Regency, and other areas.

Away—Ahmad Wahyudin's nickname—also touched on what would happen if the Lembang Fault disaster occurred. "The supply of milk and meat coming from Bandung and Lembang Regencies that are affected by the fault will be affected, production will decrease," he said.

In addition, the food that enters the city of Bandung will also be different. What will become the food of Bandung residents is a question. However, according to Away, another food that is often forgotten is water.

Regional Coordinator of Urban Futures Yayasan Humanis, Laily Himayati, revealed that the steps taken by her party by collaborating with various parties in various efforts made to formulate a food system in the Flower City were not done just once. Since 2023, her party has been communicating and meeting to formulate it,

A number of young people were involved, conducting the dissemination of survey results on the Right to Food and Nutrition (HaPG) for groups of young people in Bandung. One of the researches was from Frontiers for Health (F2H) entitled The Influence of Peer Learning on Increasing Healthy Food Consumption and Nutritional Status in Adolescents and Young Families in Bandung City.