Still a Long Road toward Beef Self-Sufficiency for Indonesia
The Indonesian Cattle and Buffalo Farmers Union (PPSKI) is pessimistic that Indonesia can achieve self-sufficiency in beef in either 2016 or 2017 despite the Indonesian government’s renewed push for self-sufficiency in various commodities, including beef. Self-sufficiency in beef is defined by the PPSKI as needing to import less than 10 percent of the nation’s total beef demand. However, with Indonesia’s beef demand estimated at more than 3.8 million (of live cattle) in 2016, while the country’s government news agency Antara said Indonesia is to import up to 600,000 live cattle this year, it implies that nearly 16 percent of domestic beef demand is imported.