Prof. Dr. M. Husen Sawit

Sosial Ekonomi Pertanian

Prof. Dr. M. Husen Sawit

Prof. Dr. M. Husein Sawit, Born in Sigli, Aceh province, November 25, 1947. He studied at the Faculty of Engineering, majoring in Architecture, University of Gajah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta in 1967, then continued his education until he graduated at the Faculty of Economics, UGM with a specialization in Agricultural Economics in 1973; earned his M.Sc in Agricultural Developments Economics at the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia in 1984; and obtained his PhD in economics from the University of Wollongong, NSW Australia in 1994. Undergoing non-degree education on Rural Labor Markets at the World Bank, Washington DC, USA (1985: 2 months); then Watershed Analysis and Resource Management at Cornell University, Ithaca USA (1994: 3 months). Inaugurated as the 76th research professor of the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD) or the 300th national level after delivering a scientific oration entitled: Producer Price Policy Reform and Its Impact on Rice Competitiveness, on June 21, 2010.

He joined for several months in research on the expansion of sugar factories in Java and Aceh at the Agro-Economic Survey (SAE) in Jakarta at the expense of the World Bank, then became a research staff and concurrently as research secretary for the Rural Dynamics Study (SDP) in Bogor in 1975-1981. In 1982, he joined Center for Agro-Economic Research (CAR)  which is now Indonesian Center for Agro-Socioeconomic and Agricultural Policy Study (ICASEPS). As a researcher, he intensively participated in various workshops on the Agro-Ecosystem approach in the management of marginal lands, watersheds and coastal areas which were carried out in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand (1986-1987). In the late 1980s, he was active in developing the RRA (Rapid Rural Appraisal) and PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) methodologies and the Agro-ecosystem Approach on various research issues with funding supported by the Ford Foundation, USAID, ICLARM, ICRAF, CIIFAD Cornell University.

He also joined the National Food Logistics Agency (BULOG) for 16 years, since 1996. During his time at BULOG, he often represented BULOG in many activities such as APEC meetings in Canada and Japan (1996-1999), being a participant of FAO/AFMA in Beijing, China (1996). ), participant of the NGO forum in South Korea (1999), became the Indonesian Delegation at the FAO meeting, IFAD in Rome and agricultural negotiations in the WTO Doha Round in Geneva (2000-2009). Since the WTO Doha Round, he has also been the Indonesian delegate at the WTO COA (Committee On Agriculture) session in the 2003-2009 period. He was invited to various international scientific forums related to the WTO AoA (Agreement of Agriculture), rice trade and food price stabilization held in Geneva, Rome, Nairobi, Hanoi, Melbourne, Manila, New Delhi, Penang and Salvador (Brazil). Often asked to convey their thoughts on stabilizing food or rice prices, as well as its relation to human development in regional/multilateral trade by IFPRI, the World Bank, and UNDP.

In addition, he is also a member of the Rice Policy Team formed by Bappenas and the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy (2001), then became a consultant to WFP Jakarta (1998: 1 month; 2005: 3 months) and FAO Jakarta (1995: 2 months, and 2003-2004); Senior advisor on agriculture policy at UNSFIR (United Nations Support Facility For Indonesian Recovery) UNDP Jakarta (2003-2005). He was also a research fellow at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at ANU Australia (1992: 2 months) then a senior research fellow at Kyoto University (2002: 2 months).

Other activities that he participated in during the 2001-2003 period: he actively participated in the initial discussion on the Emergency Rice Reserve (ERR) at AEAN+3 in Bangkok, then became a resource person in the Monitoring Team for the Implementation of the Rice Instruction at the Secretariat Office of the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia. (2006), Coordination Team for Rice Policy and Food Price Stabilization at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (2007-2018), became an expert in the field of Food and Trade at KADIN (2008).

For his service he was awarded the Satyalancana Karya Satya XX charter of honor in 1999 and the President of the Republic of Indonesia award on Food Security in 2010. Then he retired on December 1, 2012.