Poverty
in Indonesia is a widespread issue though in recent years the
official numbers show a declining trend. Due to the dense rural nature of parts
of the Java, Bali, Lombok, and parts of Sumatra, poverty can be classified into
rural and urban poverty. Urban poverty is prevalent in not only in Jabotabek,
but also in Medan
and Surabaya.
As a sprawling archipelago, poverty characteristics and implications vary
widely from island to island and culture to culture. Papua has serious poverty issues of its own due
to economic, cultural, linguistic and physical isolation which set it apart
from the rest of Indonesia.
Figures
In February 1999, as much as 47.97 million people were
classified as poor, representing 23.43% of the nation's population. However,
this figure must take into account the slide of the rupiah in the Asian financial crisis. By July 2005, that
number had been reduced to 35.10 million, representing 15.97% of the total
population. Latest available figures,
March 2007, show that 37.17 million people are under the poverty line
representing 16.58% of the entire population.
Poverty and
hunger continue to stalk Indonesia despite the rapid economic growth over the
past few years. By most estimates, more than 50 percent of the country’s 240
million people still live on $2 or less a day.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s government has made fighting poverty one of its top priorities, but with mixed results. Eliminating hunger should in fact be THE top priority for the government as food security is the most basic of human needs.
Understanding the causes of hunger is critical if the government is to fight this scar on our nation’s face head-on.
Food supply is not the issue as there is enough food to feed everyone.
Poverty, in most cases, is the root cause of hunger and, as a result, over the past five years the country has continued to experience a steady decline in the nutritional status of children under five years of age.
It is unacceptable in this day and age that 28 percent of children in this country are underweight, with 44 percent facing stunted growth.
Without a long-term solution, the country will continue to face a sharp deficit in the quality of its human capital as today’s children will not receive enough nutrition to develop into tomorrow’s productive workforce.
To tackle this problem, the solution must therefore lie in providing greater empowerment and more economic opportunities for the people, in particular the very poor.
The government has initiated some programs, such as direct cash transfers, as a short-term solution, but clearly poverty numbers have not come down.
The longer-term solution must be for the government to unshackle the private sector so that entrepreneurs can create more better-paying jobs.
If parents have steady jobs, they can afford to feed their children and themselves. The private sector must become the economic locomotive as the government does not have the capacity to create enough well-paying jobs on its own.
This is an urgent problem, as reflected in a new study released by the Food and Agricultural Organization and the United Nations World Food Program that lists Indonesia as one of seven countries in the world with the most underfed citizens.
The study notes that more than 1 billion people across the globe face severe hunger. It adds that with a child dying every six seconds because of hunger-related problems, hunger remains the world’s largest tragedy and scandal.
Wiping out hunger will require serious effort and farsighted policies on the part of governments. But most of all it will require a political will to change the way the problem is addressed.
Fighting hunger and poverty is an immediate priority as it will have dire long-term consequences on the nation, let alone on the dignity of the individual.
Every Indonesian deserves a fighting chance to make the most of his or her life and to enjoy the full benefits of economic growth.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s government has made fighting poverty one of its top priorities, but with mixed results. Eliminating hunger should in fact be THE top priority for the government as food security is the most basic of human needs.
Understanding the causes of hunger is critical if the government is to fight this scar on our nation’s face head-on.
Food supply is not the issue as there is enough food to feed everyone.
Poverty, in most cases, is the root cause of hunger and, as a result, over the past five years the country has continued to experience a steady decline in the nutritional status of children under five years of age.
It is unacceptable in this day and age that 28 percent of children in this country are underweight, with 44 percent facing stunted growth.
Without a long-term solution, the country will continue to face a sharp deficit in the quality of its human capital as today’s children will not receive enough nutrition to develop into tomorrow’s productive workforce.
To tackle this problem, the solution must therefore lie in providing greater empowerment and more economic opportunities for the people, in particular the very poor.
The government has initiated some programs, such as direct cash transfers, as a short-term solution, but clearly poverty numbers have not come down.
The longer-term solution must be for the government to unshackle the private sector so that entrepreneurs can create more better-paying jobs.
If parents have steady jobs, they can afford to feed their children and themselves. The private sector must become the economic locomotive as the government does not have the capacity to create enough well-paying jobs on its own.
This is an urgent problem, as reflected in a new study released by the Food and Agricultural Organization and the United Nations World Food Program that lists Indonesia as one of seven countries in the world with the most underfed citizens.
The study notes that more than 1 billion people across the globe face severe hunger. It adds that with a child dying every six seconds because of hunger-related problems, hunger remains the world’s largest tragedy and scandal.
Wiping out hunger will require serious effort and farsighted policies on the part of governments. But most of all it will require a political will to change the way the problem is addressed.
Fighting hunger and poverty is an immediate priority as it will have dire long-term consequences on the nation, let alone on the dignity of the individual.
Every Indonesian deserves a fighting chance to make the most of his or her life and to enjoy the full benefits of economic growth.
