MANOKWARI, WEST PAPUA – The West Papua Provincial Government through the Office of Food Crops Horticulture and Plantations held a coordination meeting to develop the concept of sustainable agricultural sector development.
Acting Governor of West Papua Ali Baham Temongmere said that agricultural development requires a systematic process starting from data collection, data recapitulation to program preparation and the process is then analyzed in detail and accurately in accordance with objective conditions, so that the implementation of all program activities has a positive impact on the local community, “data accuracy is very important. If the data is wrong, then the program is also not on target,” said Ali Baham.
According to him, the development policy of West Papua Province is prioritized on improving the quality of life and community welfare, revitalizing food mainstay areas, and new economic growth centers.
The development of the agricultural sector in 2025 is more focused on increasing production through the provision of potential areas and the development of superior local food commodities, “mapping potential areas is a must and once again there must be accurate data,” said Ali Baham.
In addition to the preparation of data-based agricultural concepts, the Provincial and District Governments are obliged to provide assistance to indigenous Papuan farmers spread across seven districts.
This effort is a form of empowering local farmers to be more independent and competitive, so that it contributes to increasing the economic growth of West Papua, “so that local West Papuan farmers can also be independent and their economy is getting better,” said Ali Baham.
The Acting Head of the West Papua Food Crops Horticulture and Plantation Office Agustinus Warbaal said, the technical coordination meeting would produce a more accurate agricultural development planning document based on regional priorities, besides that the performance of the agricultural sector should be encouraged through the application of mechanization methods as a whole so that agricultural productivity increases every year, “this rakornis aims to equalize perceptions in preparing the agricultural grand design document,” Agustinus said.
Acting Regional Secretary of West Papua Yacob S Fonataba said the potential rice fields owned by West Papua are approximately 10 thousand hectares, but only 800 hectares are in production due to various obstacles. The rice fields are scattered in four of the seven districts, namely Manokwari Regency, South Manokwari, Wondama Bay, and Bintuni Bay Regency, “if Fakfak and Kaimana are no longer in production. The land is dry, while the Arfak Mountains have no rice fields,” said Fonataba.
According to him, the need for rice consumed by people in West Papua reaches 103 thousand tons per capita per year, while local rice production is only 25 thousand tons per capita per year. This condition has resulted in West Papua being dependent on rice distribution from other regions in Indonesia such as Makassar, South Sulawesi and Surabaya, East Java, “almost 75 percent of the rice supply is imported from outside West Papua,” said Yacob.
Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Papua, Rully N Wurarah, assessed that the level of local rice production that has not been able to answer the needs of people throughout West Papua has resulted in price increases that often occur if supplies are reduced. This is reflected in the condition of West Papua’s annual inflation in February 2024 reaching 3.61 percent (yoy) with the rice commodity being the highest contributor at 1.09 percent, “local food can be a solution when rice production is still lacking, but people need to be educated to change consumption patterns,” said Rully.