On Millennial Farmers and Digital Technology to solve Agricultural Problems in Indonesia
The Indonesian version of this article appeared in Kompas Daily Opinion Column on February 24, 2023, which can be accessed via the link: https://www.kompas.id/baca/opini/2023/02/22/salah-perspektif-dalam-solusi-pertanian-anak-muda-dan-teknologi-digital
In search of a “silver bullet” for food security issue in Indonesia
The Indonesian version of this article appeared in Kompas Daily Opinion Column on January 13, 2023, which can be read through the link: https://www.kompas.id/baca/opini/2023/01/11/mencari-peluru-perak-ketahanan-pangan-di-indonesia
Food, Agriculture, and Islam
Introduction: Transcendental food and agriculture There is no doubt that agriculture and food are important, if not central, to the teachings of Islam – and this is also true of other heavenly religions. Just think of how the heavenly religions describe Paradise, the Garden of Eden built of beautifully tended, well-ordered vegetation, with colorful flowers, […]
Bringing Peasant Farmers as Champions: a small note on the prioritization of West Java’s agriculture program
Introduction This short paper reflects various discussions on the root causes of agricultural problems in Indonesia and in West Java in particular. One of the most frequently discussed root causes is the peasant farmer (defined as a farmer with less than 0.5 ha of land) who, in practice, is unable to accumulate profits from the […]
Life and humans in the perspective of life science: a rejoinder to Prof. Yasraf Piliang’s scientific oration
Ancient Greek thinkers, for example, distinguished two forms of life. First, zoe, which is the simple fact of life common to all living things, which shows signs of biological, physical and material life. Everything is said to be “alive”, because it has “life” and exhibits movements that indicate biological, physical and material life, as distinguished […]
Looking into evolution, biology and morality
About a month ago, I was challenged by colleagues in the DISKURSUS group at the Salman Mosque ITB to explore what I had learned in college about the theory of evolution. Feeling no longer competent to discuss it from a biological perspective, I tried to write a review of the theory of evolution as a […]
Exploring the meanings of food security
Commemorating Indonesia’s 69th independence, it is interesting to look at the meaning of independence in relation to food. In his 1941 presidential address, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt emphasized that there are four forms of freedom that should be inherent in every individual – freedom of expression, belief, from fear, and from basic needs (clothing, […]
Resilience and Indonesia’s agrifood systems
This is my personal narrative of an academic paper that I prepared for a discussion at the AKATIGA Center for Social Analysis last June 2016. The paper (in Bahasa) can be downloaded here: Paper_Angga_AKATIGA. Let’s stop for a moment at the end of 1997. At that time the dry season was prolonged. Many rain-fed rice fields […]
Food as embodied politics
It is a common norm that food security and sovereignty require that societies are able to reduce dependence on one type of food, or shift from a global food system to local food provision. But have you ever asked why various government programs to diversify food through non-rice sources of carbohydrates have allegedly failed miserably? […]
Highlighting the Dark Side of the Global Value Chain of the Clothing Industry
Clothing, Food and Civilization At the beginning of this article, I would like to emphasize that I am not an expert in the field of fashion and the textile industry. My writings are mostly about agriculture and food, the environment, and occasionally religion. One thing that I initially thought food and clothing had in common […]