Prospects and strategies for food exports from border areas: a case of West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Border areas can be a source of growth in food production in Indonesia. One of the provinces in the border areas having prospects as a source of food growth for export is West Kalimantan. This province has started to export food (mainly medium and special quality rice) to Malaysia via Sanggau district. However, food exports from the Kalimantan border are still in limited quantities and face several obstacles that have resulted in unsustainable food exports. This study aims to analyze the prospects and strategies for food exports (especially rice) from West Kalimantan border area. The study was conducted in September 2018 in three subdistricts of Sanggau District, namely Entikong, Sekayam, and Kembayan. Data were collected through focus group discussion, and SWOT analysis was employed. The results show that rice exports from the West Kalimantan border areas are in the Weakness-Opportunity (W-O) quadrant, indicating an opportunity to export but cannot yet be utilized because the existing strength is not enough to carry it out. The main opportunity is that the rice market actors are ready to export, while the main weakness is that the rice prices are not competitive with those from other exporting countries. The decision that can be taken is either (1) releasing existing opportunity and looking for other alternatives or (2) forcing them to work on this opportunity.