Yahukimo, Highland Papua (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, here on Friday handed over assistance, such as rice, instant food, and vitamins, to Yahukimo, Highland Papua province, which is experiencing a food crisis.
"This is a follow-up to the handling of famine in one of the sub-districts in Yahukimo. I have visited Yahukimo and the handling there has been carried out well," he informed.
Effendy handed over the aid to Yahukimo district head Didimus Yahuli.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has also provided a ready-to-use budget of Rp1 billion to Yahukimo. Further assistance for people starving in Yahukimo has been provided by the National Food Agency (Bapanas) and state logistics agency Bulog. Minister Effendy said that food assistance is the government's short-term solution to the famine so that the people's food needs can be met.
According to him, mitigation efforts and permanent comprehensive solutions need to be carried out to tackle the recurring famines in the Highland Papua and Central Papua regions. One of the mitigation efforts is building social granaries or food storage and logistics warehouses. The plan for their construction will be followed up by the Ministry of Social Affairs in coordination with the BNPB.
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"We will prepare food warehouses so that this cycle of food shortage problems can be ended. Actually, the (food crisis) tends to circulate or move from one district to another," the minister said.
In addition to the construction of food warehouses, the government will soon provide seeds of food varieties that are resistant to extreme weather and can be grown in famine-vulnerable regions. Another solution is the adaptation of appropriate technology for food processing so that people do not only depend on the harvest period, Effendy added.
