Food security is central to Indonesia’s social stability and economic resilience. While the country has made notable gains in staple grain security, especially rice, emerging threats in the livestock sector underline how fragile food systems can be. African Swine Fever (ASF), a highly contagious animal disease, has become a serious challenge, exposing the close link between livestock health, nutrition, and livelihoods.
Why Food Security Remains a Strategic Priority
With a population exceeding 280 million, Indonesia’s food system operates under constant pressure. Climate change, volatile global food prices, and supply chain disruptions have raised the stakes for domestic food production and reserves. Recent years have seen progress, reflected in the largest government rice stocks in decades.
However, food security is not limited to cereals. Animal-source foods are critical for nutritional security, particularly protein intake. Livestock, therefore, plays a vital role in ensuring balanced diets, especially in regions where malnutrition and food insecurity persist.
The Livestock Subsector and Its Socioeconomic Role
Pig farming supports over a million Indonesian households, many of them smallholders in food-insecure regions. For these communities, pigs are not only a source of income but also an accessible form of animal protein.
Healthy livestock systems contribute to:
- Dietary diversity and nutrition
- Rural employment and income stability
- Resilience of local food systems
Disruptions in this sector, therefore, have cascading effects beyond agriculture.
African Swine Fever: Nature of the Threat
African Swine Fever is a viral disease that affects domestic and wild pigs, often with high mortality rates. While it does not infect humans, its economic and nutritional impacts are severe.
ASF outbreaks result in:
- Mass culling of pigs
- Loss of livelihoods for small farmers
- Reduced availability of affordable animal protein
Across Asia and the Pacific, recent spikes in ASF cases have heightened concerns about cross-border transmission and regional food security.
Why Prevention and Early Response Are Crucial
There is no effective vaccine for ASF. As a result, control depends heavily on:
- Strict biosecurity measures
- Early detection and surveillance
- Rapid containment and response
Once established, the disease is difficult to eradicate, making prevention far more cost-effective than post-outbreak control.
Indonesia’s Policy Response and International Cooperation
Recognising the risk, Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture has reinforced biosecurity protocols and urged vigilance at national and local levels. A key pillar of the response is international collaboration.
In partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and with support from the Republic of Korea, Indonesia has launched the Community ASF Biosecurity Interventions (CABI) programme. This initiative focuses on:
- Empowering farmers with affordable biosecurity practices
- Improving on-farm hygiene and disease control
- Building community-level resilience against ASF
By targeting smallholders, the programme aligns disease control with livelihood protection.
ASF and the Broader Food Security Debate
The ASF challenge highlights a broader lesson: food security depends on integrated systems. Grain reserves alone cannot guarantee nutritional welfare if livestock sectors collapse. Animal health, rural livelihoods, and nutrition are deeply interconnected.
Indonesia’s experience also underscores the importance of:
- Linking food security with animal health policy
- Strengthening regional cooperation on transboundary diseases
- Investing in preventive capacity rather than crisis response
What to Note for Prelims?
- African Swine Fever: affects pigs, not humans
- Role of FAO in animal health and food security
- Concept of biosecurity in livestock management
- Livestock’s role in nutritional security
What to Note for Mains?
- Link between animal health and food security
- Impact of livestock diseases on rural livelihoods
- Role of international cooperation in managing transboundary animal diseases
- Limitations of staple-centric approaches to food security
- Preventive governance versus reactive crisis management
