Sorghum: A Solution for Hunger in NTT, Indonesia

From 1968 to 1998, in the presidential era of Soeharto, the central government mandated every province in Indonesia to increase rice production to achieve food self-sufficiency. This national program pushed farmers to plant only rice crops. At that moment, every farming land across Indonesia was only producing rice.

Even though the Indonesian government successfully achieved food self-sufficiency and received recognition from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1986, an issue about dietary habits had arisen in some provinces of Indonesia.

Some communities became independent to plant different crops because their native staples weren’t rice, and their habitations originally weren’t suitable for planting rice crops. Normally, rice cultivation is well-suited in provinces that have a warm climate and high amounts of rainfall*. But some regions in Indonesia have a long dry season, which makes the climate hotter than in other regions, particularly in Eastern Indonesia.

Among the provinces in Eastern Indonesia, NTT (East Nusa Tenggara) is the most vulnerable province to climate change, which has a long dry season and unpredictable rainfall patterns*. As the rainy season decreases during cultivating time, this translates into higher drought risk, which consequently reduces crop yields, creates unstable incomes, and increases the poverty rate.

According to Statistics Indonesia in March 2018, the poverty rate in NTT was higher (21.35 percent) than the national percentage (9.82 percent)*. In the same year, the agriculture sector was the highest contributor (29.36 percent) to the economic structure, and rice was one of the main commodities in NTT*.

However, according to Statistics Indonesia, rice production in 2018 (472,634 tons) still couldn’t fulfill the rice consumption (570,012 tons). Even though 58.63 percent of NTT society work as farmers, most of them are still living in poverty*. Hunger cases can be found easily in rural areas, and mostly the victims are from farmers’ families.

The challenges from the native climate in the Eastern portion of Indonesia and climate change as a global issue have been having major impacts on the NTT society. Based on that phenomenon, there are two main necessities to reduce the challenges. The first is providing information about new types of crops, which are more heat resistant during the dry season and require less water. The second is assisting with new cultivating models during the pre-harvest and producing new types of meals/products made from local resources in the post-harvest.

Photo 1. A scenery of sorghum land in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.

The sorghum plant is one of the potential crops to be introduced to farmers in NTT. Sorghum is a warm-weather crop and is mainly cultivated in drier areas, particularly on the African continent. Sorghum is able to tolerate drought better than most other grain crops and is very efficient in the absorption of water. During dry seasons, sorghum is able to remain in a virtually dormant stage and continue growth after conditions become favorable*.

Sorghum is not only capable of adapting to drier areas, but also has rich nutritional value, with high levels of unsaturated fats, protein, fiber, and minerals like magnesium, iron, copper, calcium, and phosphorus*. Even FAO states that sorghum has a higher protein value (10.4) than rice (7.9) and maize (9.2 grams).

In communities where sorghum is grown as the main food product, communities there can use sorghum to produce many kinds of rich and colorful sorghum meals, including thin and thick porridges, fermented porridges, fermented and unfermented bread, and beverages. Almost every part of the sorghum can be used.

Communities in North China can use sorghum to make hats, frame materials, brooms, covers, and many other utilizations*. In Indonesia, the sorghum market is still growing and some MNEs have already been established to fulfill the demands from India and China. NTT is one potential area to escalate sorghum production*.

There are some communities in NTT who are concerned with sorghum production. One of them is Maria Loretha, an entrepreneur who is best known as a champion of East Flores’s forgotten wonder crop*. Since 2007, Loretha has been working with organizations to assist farmers in cultivating sorghum. Loretha created local communities to encourage people in NTT to adopt sorghum as the primary daily staple. These communities also promote sorghum as one solution to tackle poverty and hunger cases in NTT.

Loretha, with communities in NTT, supports the government to fight against malnutrition and to provide hope for better lives, especially for farmers. Sorghum, this potential solution, can disrupt the status quo which has already existed in NTT for a long time. Raising the promotion of sorghum in rural areas and providing capacity-building for the farmers during the pre-and post-harvest will answer the challenges in agriculture, increase the incomes for farmers, and reduce the poverty and hunger cases in NTT.