Indonesia pledges ASEAN cooperative push for food security

Yogyakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia pledged to work with fellow ASEAN members to strengthen food security through cooperative development as climate change and the El Niño phenomenon raise the risk of food shortages.

Deputy Cooperatives Minister Farida Farichah made the pledge at the 32nd Centre for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives (CDCAC) meeting and 27th ASEAN Sectoral Working Group on Agricultural Cooperatives (ASWGAC) session in Yogyakarta on Monday.

She called the events a platform for ASEAN members to deepen agricultural cooperation on shared regional challenges, citing the impact of climate change on food security.

As host, Indonesia is committed to turning ideas for strengthening cooperatives' role in food self-sufficiency into concrete actions, she said.

Farichah said strengthening agricultural cooperatives institutionally is essential for countries to achieve food self-sufficiency.

Cooperatives in Southeast Asia should be positioned "as the leading sector, enabling them to spearhead the realization of food self-sufficiency in their respective countries," she said.

Cooperatives can play a strategic role by connecting farmers with financing, technology, production and processing facilities, distribution networks and markets, she said.

She cited several dairy and agricultural cooperatives in West, Central and East Java as models for cooperative development in other Southeast Asian countries.

Indonesia is eager to share best practices from those cooperatives with delegates to strengthen cooperatives' role as pillars of rural economies and regional food security, Farichah said.

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Translator: Hery Sidik, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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