Selling Sago and Fish, Buying Instant Noodles

Worst of all, in 2018 the government declared an extraordinary occurrence in Asmat due to an explosion in cases of malnutrition. At least 72 children died.

Kompas/Totok Wijayanto

A boy eats uncooked instant noodles on Friday (15/10/2021) in Kampung As of Three Islands district in Asmat regency, Papua

The Asmat people’s encounter with a new food culture and food assistance has changed their food consumption pattern. Artificial seasonings are increasingly replacing the sago and fish that are abundantly available in their villages.

As soon as the ketinting (wooden boat) had docked, Mama Juliana Soromaut (43) rushed to lay out 10 bunches of water spinach and dozens of fish. She quickly got off the boat and made her way to a market in Agats that was only a stone's throw from the harbor. She rolled out a length of sackcloth on the side of the asphalt road running alongside the swamp and placed the water spinach and fish on it.