Maritime Community Food Security: Case Study of Meranti Sago

Abstract

The threat of a food crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years has become a national issue. It is necessary to build a food system that is in accordance with the potential of local resources as a substitute for rice, namely sago. One of the foodstuffs recorded in Indonesian history to date is Sago Meranti which is produced in Meranti, Riau Province. However, now sago is no longer a staple food there. This study aims to find out how the history of sago processing in the lives of the Meranti people and its potential as a supporter of food security for maritime communities in the present and in the future. This study uses an approach through four stages of work, namely heuristics, source criticism, interpretation and historiography. The results of this study indicate that sago has been the staple food of the Malay Meranti community in the past, but the tradition of eating sago in the Meranti community is getting worse. This is due to the incessant food security program that relies on rice, changes in the Meranti community's relationship with sago, and the community's underdeveloped sago processing technology. The potential of sago as food security alternative for maritime communities.such as meranti or even in the national level can be realized through government policies that declare sago as a healthy staple food, and support the development of a community-based sago processing industry in Meranti.