Pushing Greater Accessibility for Nutritious Food: Case Study in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Abstraksi

Indonesians spend slightly more than half of their monthly expenses on food (BPS, 2017). Furthermore, the typical Indonesian diet is dominated by rice and other carbohydrate sources, while protein intake has been lacking (BKP, 2018). This situation may result in malnutrition, eventually affecting the quality of Indonesia’s human capital. The government provides non-cash food aid (Bantuan Pangan Non-Tunai, BPNT) to help poor people reduce their food expenses and ensure adequate protein intake, but the effectiveness of this aid is affected by food price increases because the e-warongs (shops) distributing these foodstuffs have to buy at market prices. Hence, there is still a need to keep food prices affordable. This study intends to measure how changes in food prices influence food intakes and, more specifically, how BPNT makes people adjust their food intake in response to price changes. The study also analyzes how the effectiveness of BPTN is influenced by food price changes. Preparing several scenarios, we asked mothers on Sumba Island, an area considered as having the worst food insecurity in East Nusa Tenggara, to adjust their household spending to experimental price changes. Furthermore, interviews with e-warong managers in Kupang were conducted to analyze factors that influence price changes. The study found that, in the absence of BPNT, a price increase of IDR 500 for rice and eggs leads to a reduced household consumption by approximately 3 kg rice and 4 eggs per month. With the BPNT program being implemented, the reduction in consumption decreases to only approximately 1 kg of rice. At the same time, however, there is an increase in a reduction of approximately 5 eggs. Rice and egg prices are determined on their markets of origin: East Nusa Tenggara receives the rice from Makassar, and eggs from Surabaya. Price changes in the origin markets influence price changes in East Nusa Tenggara. This study highlights that policies that influence food prices will also affect the effectiveness of government programs that focus on improving food security.