RELEVANCES OF THE "RASKIN" PROGRAM WITH FOOD DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POOR FAMILIES IN KEBUMEN DISTRICT

• Main Author: WIRATMOKO (NIM 24006070), YUDO
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/11665
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Among efforts which have been done by the government to overcome lower access of poor families on staple food availability was the establishment of Rice for The Poor Program (or "Raskin" Program); a program which supports rice distribution with a subsidized price among poor families in certain areas. However, not all the poor well benefited yet by the implementation of such program. Meanwhile, the poor families targeted by the program have various characteristics indeed. To reveal the benefits of Raskin Program toward targeted groups of various food demand characteristics, a research was made on how the program was implemented in Kebumen District. Based on collected data and information, then an qualitative analyses was made. This analyses was also supported by quantitative analyses. Through these methods, a comparison between the real condition and the expected one by the program could be figured out.<p>Based on analyses made, it revealed that the Raskin Program which adopts top-down approaches, in its implementation doesn't consider the disparity between fluctuate characteristics of targeted groups' food demands and constant schedule of rice distributions during the whole year. Therefore, the absorptions extent of rice distribution by poor families, as reported, were deceptive ones and did not reflect the benefit which actually gained by them. These were also resulted from additional costs which has to pay by targeted groups as well as lower allocation for each poor families compared with former intended allocation. On the other side, there also possibility of a contradiction between effort in achieving staple food security and enhancing farmers welfare. A possibility of solution proposed to overcome these is by re-utilization of village's rice barn institution which can absorbs surplus during post harvest periods and provide support during scarcity ones.<p>Programs aimed to provide supports for poor societies should not be centralistic in their nature and should put more attention to the development of local potentials. On the other side, there also should be efforts to strengthen the capacity of poor societies as part of democratization efforts to achieve good governance.