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Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) – Communities of farmers all over Indonesia are battling with drought caused by rising sea temperatures associated with the El Nino atmospheric phenomenon which affects rainfall all over the world. The most recent rice harvest in the mountain village of Ketung Miri, produced 20% lower than expected and it will be months before farmers can plant again. The Indonesian agency which deals with disasters, reported that at the end of the month of August severe drought was affecting some 22 million people in 84 provinces. In normal annual conditions the sowing season would have started, but in villages like Ketung Miri, fields are either uncultivated or filled with secondary prime materials such as tobacco, Indonesian peppers and maize which require less water than rice. At the national level the UN World Food Programme estimates that 37% of Indonesia’s children under five years old, suffers from chronic malnutrition. (AP) (23/10/2015 Agenzia Fides)
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