VZCZCXRO4370
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEJJA #1808/01 3030747
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300747Z OCT  09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3690
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001808 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR COS, F, OES AND EAP 
COMMERCE FOR NOAA 
USAID FOR ANE, EGAT 
 
 
E.O. 12598: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR EAID ETRD SENV PREL ID
SUBJECT: Naming Indonesia as a Priority Country for Food Security 
 
¶1.  Summary and Action Request.  Food security is a priority for 
President Yudhoyono, and U.S. assistance would yield concrete 
poverty-alleviating results for up to 150 million vulnerable 
Indonesians.  Indonesia suffers from a high incidence of food 
insecurity, particularly in eastern regions where conditions 
resemble Sub-Saharan Africa.  Indonesia has shown it has the 
capacity to increase agricultural productivity but still needs 
assistance to tackle the chronic food insecurity that grips multiple 
provinces.  Food security would provide an important new area for 
collaboration with Indonesia in international fora like the G-20, 
and translate into deeper collaboration on a range of other priority 
global issues. 
 
¶2.  Action Request: Post requests that President Obama inform 
President Yudhoyono that Indonesia has been selected as a priority 
country for food security assistance during their planned November 
bilateral on the margins of APEC.  End Summary and Action Request. 
 
150 Million Vulnerable Indonesians 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Approximately 150 million Indonesians (out of a 240 million 
population) live close to or below the poverty line, and more than 
60 percent of poor families depend on agricultural income.  Half of 
Indonesia's population live on less than $2 per day and spend 
two-thirds of their income on food.  Every 10 percent increase in 
the cost of rice results in another 2 million people falling into 
poverty.  The unprecedented rise in food and fuel prices during 2008 
put tremendous pressure on this segment of the population.  Food 
prices have since stabilized, but adverse weather or external shocks 
could lead again to a rapid deterioration.  High land fragmentation 
in densely populated areas as well as erratic rainfall attributed to 
climate change in the eastern part of the country adversely affect 
the large population which depends heavily on agriculture. 
Indonesia has made significant progress in food production, but 
failure to maintain or improve competiveness will have serious 
consequences. 
 
¶4.  According to the World Food Program (WFP), as many as two-thirds 
of all Indonesian provinces have areas which suffer from chronic 
food insecurity.  WFP estimates 13 million children in Indonesia 
suffer from malnutrition.  Conditions are particularly dire in 
eastern provinces, which the outgoing WFP Country Director has said 
resemble those in Africa's Sub-Saharan countries.  In that region, 
chronic malnutrition rates for children under five - already an 
alarming 37 percent nationwide - has ranged as high as 60 percent in 
recent years.  Acute malnutrition rates for children under five - 13 
percent nationwide - are 20 percent or higher in the eastern 
regions.  Nationally, 18 percent of children in 2008 were 
underweight, while estimates in eastern regions ranged above 40 
percent.  Conditions for maternal health and nutrition are equally 
critical in these same regions. 
 
Numerous Opportunities for Substantial Impact 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Countless opportunities exist for fruitful long-term cooperation 
on research, training, and capacity building between Indonesian and 
U.S. institutions, including land grant universities.  Indonesia has 
the basic research, training and extension institutions, but it can 
benefit greatly from linkages and joint programs with U.S. 
institutions.  U.S. assistance can strengthen this capacity by 
assisting research, training and extension down to the district 
level - an area officials say is a top priority.  With the aim of 
not only increasing production but also incomes in rural areas to 
support access to food, high potential areas of cooperation include 
grains and cash crops like cocoa, coffee, fruits and vegetables. 
Agroforestry initiatives that combine food production with 
reforestation and land use policies can be part of an integrated 
program aimed at both food security and climate change. 
 
¶6.  Indonesian officials also recognize that food security in 
Indonesia is inextricably tied to the ocean.  Over 60 percent of 
Indonesia's protein supply is derived from fishery products. 
Improving Indonesia's ability to protect and manage its domestic 
fishery and participate in international pelagic fisheries 
management is critical to both food security and economic 
development.  Indonesia's coral reefs (20 percent of the world's 
total), mangroves and sea grass ecosystems constitute the spawning, 
nursery and feeding grounds of large number of marine animals.  This 
biodiversity supports the livelihood of 34 million people and 
provides 6.8 million jobs. 
 
Why Indonesia? 
-------------- 
 
¶7.  Country Leadership and Capacity: President Yudhoyono's 
establishment and chairmanship of the National Food Security Council 
demonstrates the degree to which food security is a high national 
priority.  At the G-20 and other multilateral fora, Indonesia has 
committed to collaborative action on food security.  Displaying the 
ability and willingness to budget its own resources, the Government 
of Indonesia (GOI) has disbursed $32 million in assistance to 
vulnerable populations identified in a 2006 WFP assessment. 
Indonesia also has the capacity - although still deficient - in 
agricultural sciences (including fisheries) to generate a high 
return on assistance.  It displayed this capacity by increasing rice 
production more than three million tons between 2007 and 2008, 
thereby achieving self-sufficiency in rice.  Indonesia is also 
beginning to address the need for substantial new investment in 
agricultural infrastructure.  U.S. assistance can catalyze and 
leverage Indonesia's commitment and investments. 
 
¶8.  High Poverty-Reduction Impact: As many as 150 million 
Indonesians are the potential beneficiaries of improvements in food 
security.  Agriculture (including forestry and fisheries) accounts 
for over 41 percent of national employment.  The agricultural 
sector, which had a 4.8 percent growth rate in 2008, can provide 
significant opportunities for contributing to improved food 
security, poverty reduction, and strong economic growth. Official 
data indicate that women account for 40 percent of the agricultural 
workforce, but the actual number is probably higher.  Improvements 
in agriculture would clearly benefit tens of millions of rural women 
and their families. 
 
Success and Geopolitical Value 
------------------------------ 
 
¶9.  The Indonesian leadership's recognition of the food security 
challenge and commitment to multilateral cooperation, 
self-identified priorities, base capacity, and agricultural 
potential - all this makes Indonesia a more likely candidate than 
many countries to turn food security assistance into sustainable, 
country-led programs.  A number of multilateral organizations 
already have well-established programs in Indonesia and are 
consciously working to further improve strategic coordination with 
the Government of Indonesia (GOI) and other donors.  Our assistance 
would complement their efforts and strengthen Indonesia's own 
capacity to deal with food security throughout the archipelago. 
(From 2002 to 2009, the U.S. contribution to Indonesia through the 
WFP exceeded $23 million, mostly for emergency feeding programs.) 
 
¶10.  Success would provide an example for other developing countries 
and further strengthen the long-term stability of Southeast Asia. 
Helping Indonesia - a member of the newly empowered G-20 - would 
also provide an important new area for U.S.-Indonesia collaboration 
which we could translate into collaboration on other global issues 
ranging from nuclear proliferation and climate change to fuel 
subsidies and democracy in Burma.  An investment in Indonesia's food 
security would leverage a much higher potential return than in other 
developing countries which are not members of the G-20, or which are 
less inclined to cooperate with the United States on these pressing 
global issues. 
 
¶11.  President Obama could announce a decision to include Indonesia 
as a priority focus country for food security assistance during his 
planned bilateral meeting with President Yudhoyono on the margins of 
APEC in Singapore this November. 
 
HUME