June 29, 2009

Indonesia's beef self-sufficiency programme is being jeopardised by the government's inconsistent policies.

The government should boost local cow production to support the national economic growth, but the mindsets of the stakeholders have to be changed to reach beef self-sufficiency, said Siti Adiprigandari, a researcher at the Indonesia Research Strategic Analysis (IRSA).

But it would be difficult to reach beef self-sufficiency if the government on one hand endorses local cow production but on the other hand, allowed cow imports, she said, adding that it showed a shift of mindset from food sustainability to food liberalisation. 

Meat imports will pressurise local farms as they have to compete for domestic market share, she said.

Research by IRSA showed that the meat and processing industries were related to over 200 other industries, which could be directly disrupted if the two sectors were disturbed or wiped out of existence, according to Adiprigandari.

If the beef cattle sector performs poorly or is forced to shut down, production demand worth IDR40.7 trillion (US$4 billion) would be lost from the national economy, she said.

Local farms could be improved, said Rochadi Tawaf, a researcher at the Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Padjajaran University.

Official data showed that domestic cow herd increased from 10.5 million head in 2005 to 10.9 million head in 2006, while beef production dropped slightly from 358,700 tonnes in 2005 to 352,400 tonnes in 2008.

In the same period of time, cow imports surged 25 percent from 256,000 tonnes to 453,800 tonnes, while beef imports soared 67 percent from 21,500 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes.

Cow and beef imports have put pressures on local breeders, said Tawaf.