The Indonesia Postharvest Loss Alliance for Nutrition (I-PLAN), an innovative initiative founded by GAIN with support by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was recognized today by winning the Best Practices Award in Sustaining Urban Food Systems from the Dubai International Award for Best Practices.
The Dubai International Award for Best Practices was established in 1995, under the directive of the late Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum during the United Nations International Conference in Dubai—as an outcome of the Dubai Declaration. Now in its 25th year, the award recognises the world’s best practices that demonstrate valuable contributions to sustainable urban development, as a result of effective partnerships between public, private, and civic sectors.
The Indonesia Postharvest Loss Alliance for Nutrition (I-PLAN) project aims to improve the domestic supply of nutritious and safe food by reducing post-harvest loss of fish. The project consisted of two main activities:
- establishing a platform for collaborations between actors of the fish supply chain and improving efficiency and productivity of its members via training, business matching and seed funding and
- innovation challenges for local businesses on cold chain technology and fish-based food innovations.
Since the end of the GAIN grant, the I-PLAN Alliance in Indonesia (re-named JP2GI) has been run independently and boasts more than 600 members across Indonesia. Two hundred members have applied improved postharvest loss technology and practices to their businesses, with over 20,000 cold chain technology products sold and used by 400 fishers and 56,000 fish-based food products sold on the local market.
The Indonesia Postharvest Loss Alliance for Nutrition (I-PLAN), was recognized today by winning the Best Practices Award in Sustaining Urban Food Systems from the Dubai International Award for Best Practices. Teale Yalch, Manager, EatSafe Operations and Partnerships (right) and Aang Sutrisna, Senior Technical Specialist (left).
This initiative has garnered several great results such as:
- Adding new opportunities for business development, productivity, and income due to over 20,000 cold chain technology products being sold.
- The reduction of energy use and materials through innovation and affordable cold chain technologies in the fish sector including up to 15 hours/day of freezer use and a decrease of plastic bags for holding.
- Increasing access to affordable, nutritious fish and fish-based food product to alleviate malnutrition. Over 56,000 fish based food products have been sold in the local market.
"This initiative has increased the supply of fish and fish products for Indonesia’s population and has facilitated dialogue and collaboration between fish supply chain actors and government to identify bottlenecks and source sustainable, local innovations to reduce the 25-35% loss of fish prior to market." said Aang Sutrisna, Head of Program, GAIN Indonesia
With a population of 269 million people in 2020, Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world. In recent years Indonesia has rapidly industrialised and graduated to a middle-income economy. However, many development challenges remain. Income is unevenly distributed and only the higher-income consumers can afford sustained access to healthy and nutritious foods. Many suffer from different forms of malnutrition - including anaemia, stunting, and micronutrient deficiencies. These remain a major public health challenge, especially among adolescent girls, pregnant women, and children under five years of age.
This initiative has increased the supply of fish and fish products for Indonesia’s population and has facilitated dialogue and collaboration between fish supply chain actors and government to identify bottlenecks and source sustainable, local innovations to reduce the 25-35% loss of fish prior to market.