Indonesia Extends Rice Aid for 33 Million Households to December
Indonesia extends rice handouts for 33.24 million low-income families through December, adding ~997,200 tonnes to mitigate El Niño food risks.
Indonesia is extending its rice handout programme for low-income households through the end of the year, adding nearly one million metric tonnes of supply to cushion against El Niño-related food risks.
The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, said late Monday that the current allocation of 30 kilograms per recipient, which was scheduled to end in September, will now continue through October, November, and December.
The programme covers 33.24 million households nationwide. The three-month extension implies a total additional allocation of roughly 997,200 tonnes of rice.
Rice is the staple food for most of Indonesia's population of about 290 million. Prices have risen steadily in the first half of the year due to higher production costs.
The state food procurement agency, Bulog, will handle distribution. It currently holds rice stocks of 5.25 million tonnes.
Separately, the National Food Agency said on Tuesday that only about 30% of the previous programme's allocation had been distributed so far. The government aims to complete that distribution during September.
Indonesia's rice output for January to October is estimated at 31.41 million tonnes, nearly unchanged from 31.44 million tonnes in the same period last year, according to statistics bureau data.
To protect production from drier-than-usual El Niño conditions, the government has brought forward the planting period and is distributing water pumps to farmers.