Climate anomalies threaten food supply in Bengkulu Indonesia

Antara 1 Oct 10;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - Bengkulu`s food supply is threatened because of its uncertainty due to climate change anomalies that caused major disasters.

Head of the Bengkulu food security agency Muslih said that the disasters including landslides and floods along with high rainfall caused harvest failure and hampered distribution.

Climate anomalies were considered important in determining the start of the planting season, he said here Thursday.

In order to face threat, the food security agency has coordinated with the several related government institutions such as the agriculture, transportation, trade and the meteorology and climatology agencies.

The farmers must understand that natural disasters were triggered by climate anomalies.

Disasters like floods and landslides are also potential to damage the irrigation systems, he said.

Farmers can lose their crops after disasters and suffered from food scarcity that also triggered a drop in the people`s purchasing power with a serious impact on the people`s economy and livelihood.

Recently, 150 villages are threatened by food insecurity from 1.400 Bengkulu`s villages due to the poor geographical condition of dry lands.

The government had also launched aid programs for the farmers, providing funds to purchase farming equipment and goods as well as seeds and fertilizers. (*)