Database of Southeast Asian Sociocultural Information

Timor-Leste is a group of islands, so the main food ingredients are spices considered another shared identity of countries in South East Asian Peninsula. Though Caril or soup with coconut milk and spices adopted from Portuguese food is very popular, rice is a main dish in this region.

Timorese food can be categorized into 2 types, vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. The ingredients are mostly local ingredients such as spices, coconut milk, potato, cassava, corn and taro. Meats are pork, goat meat and fish. Not only do Timorese love savour food but also sweet snacks adopted from Portuguese food.  (WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia, 2016)

Timor-Lesteis filled with abundant marine resources. However, its forest resources were widely burnt by the Indonesian force during 1975-1999. So, most of the land is grassland and coffee field.  The climate here is hot and humid. Therefore, it is a huge difference between rainy season and summer. From November to February, the climate is drought causing a decline in agricultural products. People in some parts of the country are inevitably facing a famine.

However, the famine is an issue that Timorese have been struggling with for a long time. Due to its climate variability during November to February, it is hardly possible to grow agricultural products on barren land.It Is considered a ‘hunger season’ of Timorese. While some families can store food supplies, poor Timorese have a different way to deal with this deadly season. They would eat Sagu palm’s dried barks, but estimated 54% of children in the age under 5 years old are suffering from chronic malnutrition. (WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia, 2016)

Even though this urgent issue has been a focus of Timorese government and United Nation through supports of ‘Timor-Leste launched the U.N.’s Zero Hunger Challenge’ (ELENI LENTZ-MARINO, 2014), it is natural conditions that allow less access to full supports. The issue is continuing while the government is promoting it ‘a national issue’ and trying their best to solve the problem.