JAKARTA (Bernama): Indonesia is seeking to strengthen dairy self-sufficiency, with around 80 per cent of domestic milk demand still being met through imports.
Deputy Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said Indonesia produces only about one million tonnes of milk annually against domestic demand of four million tonnes, leaving the country heavily dependent on imported supplies.
"Since the 1920s, investment has flowed into Indonesia to help meet the country's milk needs. The sector then grew rapidly between 2000 and 2020.
"However, everything is still oriented towards imports. Eighty per cent of our milk needs are supplied through imports. For a long time, we have been constrained by dependence on imported supplies," he said according to Antara News Agency on Sunday.
Hanif warned that such dependence could pose risks to national food security, particularly during global geopolitical disruptions that affect supplies from major exporting countries.
To address the issue, he said the government is promoting the development of an integrated dairy ecosystem covering the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors to increase domestic production and strengthen supply chains.
He said efforts would include expanding livestock populations, improving productivity, strengthening research and innovation, and enhancing the capacity of milk-processing industries to build a more competitive and sustainable national dairy sector.
Hanif said strengthening the dairy sector was also important to support the development of quality human capital needed to achieve Indonesia's Golden Indonesia 2045 vision, noting that adequate nutrition remained essential for the country's future workforce.
-- BERNAMA
