Despite the stable economic growth Indonesia managed to achieve prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the country still faces several critical issues related to nutrition and food security. Even though access to food has been improving and cases of undernutrition continues to decline in the last few years, the nutritional status of the Indonesian population is still low according to the international standard. Simultaneously, Indonesia sees an increasing number of cases of overweight and obesity, as well as micronutrient deficiency. This means that Indonesia is facing a threefold malnutritional burden: undernutrition, overnutrition, and micronutrient deficiency. Moreover, while still struggling with challenges in nutrition and food security for years, Indonesia is currently facing an unprecedented crisis triggered by the COVID-9 pandemic. This means that there needs to be a new strategy for the country to be able to achieve the 2030 Agenda, especially the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), which states that by 2030 Indonesia will have been able to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

Considering the importance of nutrition and food security in Indonesia at the current time and for the country’s long-term development, The SMERU Reseach Institute organized a public discussion on the challenges Indonesia has been facing to achieve food security and improved nutrition as well as the potential solutions in the form of Forum Kajian Pembangunan (FKP) seminar. The discussion was focused on the findings of the study “Strategic Review of Food Security and Nutrition in Indonesia: 2019–2020 Update” that SMERU had just completed.  

Speakers:

1. Christa Räder (WFP Indonesia Country Director)
2. Iván Cossio Cortez (IFAD Indonesia Country Director)
3. Bambang Widianto (Executive Secretary, TNP2K)
4. Sirojuddin Arif (Researcher, The SMERU Research Institute)
5. Elan Satriawan (Chief of Policy Working Group, TNP2K)
6. Rr. Dhian Proboyekti Dipo, SKM, MA (Director of Public Nutrition, Ministry of Health)
7. John McCarthy (Associate Professor, Crawford School, Australian National University)