By: Dhita Karuniawati )*
National food security can no longer rely solely on rice. In recent years, the public’s need for animal protein has continued to increase in line with population growth, changing consumption patterns, and increasing public awareness of nutrition. Amidst global challenges such as food supply chain disruptions, fluctuating raw material prices, and the threat of a global food crisis, Indonesia has begun strengthening its new strategy through the downstreaming of the chicken farming industry.
This step is now one of the government’s strategic agendas in building a stronger, more modern, and sustainable national food system. Chicken downstreaming is seen not only as an effort to increase livestock production but also as a strategy to strengthen the food supply chain from upstream to downstream, making it more efficient and able to create significant economic added value.
The national poultry industry continues to face recurring structural problems, ranging from an imbalance between production and market absorption, fluctuations in chicken and egg prices at the farmer level, to weak integration between the production, distribution, and processing sectors. These conditions make smallholder farmers the most vulnerable group during market fluctuations.
Therefore, the government has begun promoting an integrated chicken industry model that focuses not only on live chicken production but also on strengthening the breeding, feed, slaughterhouse, food processing, cold chain logistics, and distribution of high-value-added processed products. This approach is expected to create price stability while improving the welfare of national livestock farmers.
PT Berdikari, a state-owned livestock company under the ID FOOD food holding company, is now accelerating this downstreaming process. Through the Integrated Chicken Downstreaming Project (HAT), the company is consolidating various national strengths, including academics, research institutions, scientists, livestock practitioners, and the government, to build a new foundation for the national poultry industry.
PT Berdikari’s President Director, Maryadi, stated that cross-sector collaboration is a crucial factor in accelerating the achievement of national food self-sufficiency. The company is opening up opportunities for joint innovation with various parties to design the integrated chicken downstreaming project to ensure its success.
Maryadi also believes that synergy between corporations, academics, the government, and smallholder farmers needs to be strengthened so that all stakeholders can grow together within a healthy and sustainable national livestock industry ecosystem.
This step demonstrates a shift in approach to national food sector development. For years, the development of the food industry has often been partial. Production increased, but the market was not ready to absorb the harvest or livestock products. Academic research flourished, but was not connected to industry needs. Smallholder farmers produced large quantities, but lacked price certainty or access to processing.
Now, through integrated chicken downstreaming, the government is beginning to develop a new model that unites the entire production chain into a single, interconnected system. This model is believed to be able to reduce dependence on imports, maintain a stable supply of animal protein, and strengthen national food security in the long term.
In addition to strengthening food security, chicken downstreaming also plays a significant role in supporting the Free Nutritional Meal Program (MBG), a priority of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration. A stable and affordable supply of animal protein is considered crucial for improving the nutritional quality of the community, especially schoolchildren.
The government recognizes that the success of the national food program is not sufficient simply to increase production. Far more important is ensuring that this production is optimally absorbed by the market, processed into value-added products, and provides fair profits for smallholder farmers.
On the other hand, accelerating downstream processing also addresses farmers’ concerns about plummeting egg and chicken prices due to surplus production not being met by market absorption. With a strong processing industry, excess production can be converted into processed products such as nuggets, sausages, frozen chicken, and ready-to-eat foods that have a longer shelf life and higher economic value.
However, the biggest challenge in downstream processing of chicken is ensuring that smallholder farmers are not pushed aside by the dominance of large industries. If not properly regulated, downstream processing has the potential to benefit only large corporations, while smallholder farmers remain in a weak position in the industrial chain.
Therefore, the government, through the Ministry of