Climate Change and Food Insecurities: The Importance of Food Loss and Waste Reduction in Indonesia

Abstract

Rapid increasing population of Indonesia poses a future threat to the food supply for the national demand. Furthermore, global climate change is putting a strain on the food supply chain. Droughts, floods, landslides, and pest/disease attacks all have serious consequences for agricultural production, particularly food crops. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) data published in 2017, Indonesia ranks second in the world in terms of food loss and waste contribution, chasing only Saudi Arabia. Moreover, according to the Food Sustainability Index in the Economist Intelligence Unit (2017), Indonesian food loss and waste or uneaten totalled 1.3 million tons in a single year. In Indonesia, the most common method of dealing with food waste is dumping or landfilling, which produces methane and other greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. This research was conducted by employing quick survey for colecting primary data and desk evaluation study for collecting secondary data. Meta analysis was employed in this research. Therefore, to emphasize the importance of reducing food loss and waste in Indonesia to reduce food insecurity caused by climate change, this paper investigates how food loss and waste exacerbates climate change. This paper outlined some scenarios for preventing food loss and waste at all stages of the food chain, including agricultural production, post-harvest handling and storage, distribution and consumption behaviour, and government policy, which can be implemented to begin initiatives to reduce food loss and waste to address the threat of future starvation in Indonesia because of climate change.