The issue of food had become a global issue. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one of the UN organizationswhich took care of this matter said that food production had to be increased for 70 percent in order to fulfill the needs of the world’s population. Moreover, the phenomenon of population growth tended to increase. By 2050, the human population was predicted to reach 9 billion people.
It was announced by Prof. Louie A. Divinagracia, M.Sc., DBA, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs from University of Pelita Harapan (UPH) Surabaya in General Stadium activities at the University of Widya Kartika (UWIKA), Thursday, November 28, 2013. “Because of that, it needs serious attention so that food will not become a thorny issue in the future,” he said.
One of the challenges that had to be solved was related to the management. When food left farms, 40 percent of the amount was wasted whether it was due to poor handling or distribution process. Even in developing countries, the amount of wasted food tended to be a lot. Therefore, skillful personnel were need in the food value chain.
Prof. Louie explained that another challenge in facing the world in the fisheries sector. Based on a report on fisheries and aquaculture from FAO issued in 2012, it was about 30 percent of the world’s marine fish stocks had become ‘overfishing’ (too high exploitation) in 2009. “This Conditionhad become worse and a way out must be found soon,” he added.
Therefore, the man who was also the Dean of the Business Faculty at UPH Surabaya suggested a solution. In general, there were five steps that could be done which were efficiency, food certification, food safety, quality consistency, and continuity of food.
He explained, the efficiency is about producing food with right place, time, and amount. The trick was that the manufacturer had to conduct a survey of Consumers’ needs. From that research, the time, type, and amount of materials needed could be exactly mapped.
Related to the certification, Indonesian food had be able to meet the eligibility standards of international quality. Thus, Indonesian products could compete with other countries’. Furthermore, the other important thing was the issue of food security. “This is about the integrity of the food security and quality systems that must be fulfilled by farmers,” he said.
Regarding to the quality of food, Prof. Louie said that it would affect the level of consumer’s trust levels. If the buyer trusted, there would be no doubt to buy food despite having to pay higher prices. As for continuity, the bespectacled man put more emphasis on attention to the community.” A fair agreement would help the availability of food production on a regular basis,” he said.