Food Aid Expansion Postponed
The President stated that the expansion of the non-cash food assistance would be postponed over the limited meeting on Tuesday.
Several farmers plant rice together on Tuesday (5/12) in Kilasah village in Serang, Banten. The Banten agriculture agency has encouraged farmers to plant as a group in order to achieve rice self-sufficiency, in accordance with the Agriculture Ministry’s special program (Upsus) to realize rice self-sufficiency in 2018. The ministry is optimistic about achieving its goal, as rice production reached 2,103 thousand tons out of the Upsus target of 2,255 thousand tons of dry unhusked rice as of November.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The government has postponed the expansion of its non-cash food assistance program (BPNT), which had initially been planned to reach 10 million households in 2018. However, it will still continue the rice assistance program. The food assistance is expected to reach target recipients more accurately through the evaluation of data.
The non-cash food assistance constitutes a change in the food distribution mechanism from the previous rice distribution (rice welfare program) that followed with cash assistance transferred directly to households.