by: Ivan Hadar (published in Jakarta Post, July 25, 2009)

Globally, every seven seconds a child under ten years old dies from hunger. Meanwhile, according to research released by the UN in 2008, some 826 million people around the world are permanently suffering severe malnutrition.

In Indonesia, news of malnutrition and deaths caused by starvation in several areas throughout the country has not only questioned our humanity, but has also shocked many of us because the cases have often occurred in rice or other staple food producing areas, or in big cities.

The agricultural sector, as one labor-intensive sector, has become victim to tariff policies such as the cutting of subsidies and imports of agricultural products. Such policies have impacted farmers and aggravated the development in that particular sector.

The growth sources focused solely on the consumptive and capital-intensive sectors. It is no surprise that there were times that every one percent growth was used to create between 300,000 and 400,000 job opportunities, and now can only create around 178,000 jobs. We are seeing more and more people falling into poverty.

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