Achieving food security and sustainable agriculture in SE Asia

The multistakeholder element of Indonesia’s Partnership on Sustainable Agriculture (PISAgro) could be used as a lever by governments, companies and civil-society organizations in Asia to improve food security and build a regional market. Institutional efficiency at the leadership level and the practice of networking throughout the value chain of every crop are the two main drivers for transforming agriculture. To succeed, PISAgro needs close collaboration between government departments, businesses, farming communities and NGOs on a local and international level.

South-East Asia faces three critical challenges:

Demand for food is outstripping agricultural production.

Poverty and malnutrition is widespread, though worst in rural areas.

Environmental pollution is increasing.

To ensure sustainable development in the region, agricultural companies need to develop scalable solutions and practices that address all three challenges. Given the dynamic nature of agriculture, it is also important to consider the successful methodologies of other countries and businesses when developing these solutions. 

To achieve the goal of food security, rural development and environmental sustainability, priority needs to be placed on creating country-specific strategies that embrace each crop’s entire line of production, from seed to harvest, and all the way to the retail shelves. Attention should also be paid to transportation from farm to market, to minimize the problem of food loss.

PISAgro as a possible model for sustainable agriculture

New Vision of Agriculture is a World Economic Forum initiative that promotes public-private collaboration over the development of inclusive and sustainable agriculture. It inspired us to create PISAgro in 2011, an Indonesia-based initiative that strives to achieve a “20-20-20” goal: 20% more production, 20% more income for smallholder farmers; with 20% less greenhouse gas emission by the year 2020. So far the results are encouraging. More than 30 companies and organizations are partnering in PISAgro, including four government ministries. A core council has been established to guide the group by defining and adhering to agreed operating and organizational principles. Working groups that focus on specific crops have also been developed to drive action on the ground.

Over the past three years, 10 commodity working groups (cocoa, coffee, corn, dairy, palm oil, potatoes, rice, rubber, soybean and tropical fruits) have been established. An 11th cross-cutting working group, on agri-finance, is being set up to develop funding solutions for smallholder farmers in the 10 commodity value chains.

Each working group focuses on the most pressing issues the value chain. Some groups, such as cocoa, coffee and palm oil, are concerned about how the age of the plants on a farm can lead to decreased productivity, and have developed programmes to help smallholders re-plant their fields with higher-yielding crop varieties. By using the best planting material, better quality can be achieved throughout the value chain, increasing productivity while reducing environmental costs.

Other factors that help smallholder farmers increase their productivity and profitability include sustained access to appropriate research and development, extension services to acquire Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), access to good infrastructure, affordable quality transport, modern markets, financial services and strong farmer cooperatives. Finally, such efficient farm production can only be commercially viable in a regional market where producers, retailers, consumers and governments agree on a comprehensive certification system.

I congratulate the World Economic Forum for bringing Indonesia’s PISAgro initiative into being, helping to build a modern and inclusive farming system. I look forward to sharing our experience with our neighbours in the ASEAN region.

(Franky Oesman Widjaja, chairman and chief executive officer of Sinar Mas Agribusiness & Food, is co-chair of the Grow Asia Business Council, World Economic Forum on East Asia, Manila on 21-23 May 2014.)