#5. Translation Theory

Basic Principles and Procedures for Bible Translation
BY.Forum of Bible Agencies

After discussion over a period of two years and wide review within each member organization, the following joint statement on basic principles and procedures for Bible translation was unanimously agreed by all member organizations of the Forum of Bible Agencies, Translation section, at their meeting on April 21, 1999.
As member organizations of the Forum of Bible Agencies, we affirm the inspiration and authority of the Holy Scriptures and commit ourselves to the following goals.

Concerning translation principles:
1.To translate the Scriptures accurately, without loss, change, distortion or embellishment of the meaning of the original text. Accuracy in Bible translation is the faithful communication, as exactly as possible, of that meaning, determined according to sound principles of exegesis.
2.To communicate not only the informational content, but also the feelings and attitudes of the original text. The flavor and impact of the original should be re-expressed in forms that are consistent with normal usage in the receptor language.
3.To preserve the variety of the original. The literary forms employed in the original text, such as poetry, prophecy, narrative and exhortation, should be represented by corresponding forms with the same communicative functions in the receptor language. The impact, interest, and mnemonic value of the original should be retained to the greatest extent possible.
4.To represent faithfully the original historical and cultural context. Historical facts and events should be expressed without distortion. At the same time the translation should be done in such a way that the receptor audience, despite differences of situation and culture, may understand the message that the original author was seeking to communicate to the original audience.
5.To make every effort to ensure that no contemporary political, ideological, social, cultural, or theological agenda is allowed to distort the translation.
6.To recognize that it is sometimes necessary to restructure the form of a text in order to achieve accuracy and maximal comprehension. Since grammatical categories and syntactic structures often do not correspond between different languages, it is often impossible or misleading to maintain the same form as the source text. Changes of form will also often be necessary when translating figurative language. A translation will employ as many or as few terms as are required to communicate the original meaning as accurately as possible.
7.To use the most reliable original language Scripture texts as the basis for translation, recognizing that these are always the primary authority. However, reliable Bible translations in other languages may be used as intermediary source texts.

Concerning translation procedures:
1.To determine, after careful linguistic and sociolinguistic research, the specific target audience for the translation and the kind of translation appropriate to that audience. It is recognized that different kinds of translation into a given language may be valid, depending on the local situation, including, for example, both more formal translations and common language translations.
2.To recognize that the transfer into the receptor language should be done by trained and competent translators who are translating into their mother tongue. Where this is not possible, mother-tongue speakers should be involved to the greatest extent possible in the translation process.
3.To give high priority to training mother-tongue speakers of the receptor language in translation principles and practice and to providing appropriate professional support.
4.To test the translation as extensively as possible in the receptor community to ensure that it communicates accurately, clearly and naturally, keeping in mind the sensitivities and experience of the receptor audience.
5.To choose the media for the translation that are most appropriate for the specific target audience, whether audio, visual, electronic, print, or a combination of these. This may involve making adjustments of form that are appropriate to the medium and to the cultural setting, while ensuring that the translated message remains faithful to the original message.
6.To encourage the periodic review of translations to ascertain when revision or a new translation is needed.

Concerning partnership and cooperation:
1.To organize translation projects in a way that promotes and facilitates the active participation of the Christian and wider community, commensurate with local circumstances. Where there are existing churches, we will encourage these churches to be involved in the translation and to carry as much responsibility for the translation project as is feasible.
2.To partner and cooperate with others who are committed to the same goals.

#4. Translation Theory

Translation Theory and Practice
By. Oxford University Press resource
Description
Translation: Theory and Practice: A Historical Reader responds to the need for a collection of primary texts on translation, in the English tradition, from the earliest times to the present day. Based on an exhaustive survey of the wealth of available materials, the Reader demonstrates throughout the link between theory and practice, with excerpts not only of significant theoretical writings but of actual translations, as well as excerpts on translation from letters, interviews, autobiographies, and fiction.

The collection is intended as a teaching tool, but also as an encyclopaedia for the use of translators and writers on translation. It presents the full panoply of approaches to translation, without necessarily judging between them, but showing clearly what is to be gained or lost in each case. Translations of key texts, such as the Bible and the Homeric epic, are traced through the ages, with the same passages excerpted, making it possible for readers to construct their own map of the evolution of translation and to evaluate, in their historical contexts, the variety of approaches. The passages in question are also accompanied by ad verbum versions, to facilitate comparison.

The bibliographies are likewise comprehensive. The editors have drawn on the expertise of leading scholars in the field, including the late James S. Holmes, Louis Kelly, Jonathan Wilcox, Jane Stevenson, David Hopkins, and many others. In addition, significant non-English texts, such as Martin Luther's "Circular Letter on Translation," which may be said to have inaugurated the Reformation, are included, helping to set the English tradition in a wider context. Related items, such as the introductions to their work by Tudor and Jacobean translators or the work of women translators from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries have been brought together in "collages," marking particularly important moments or developments in the history of translation.

#3. Translation Theory

Definition of the translation
(1) The process of turning an original or "source" text into a text in another language.
(2) A translated version of a text.

An individual or a computer program that renders a text into another language is called a translator. The discipline concerned with issues related to the production of translations is called translation studies.

Etymology:
From the Latin, "transfer"


Examples and Observations:
•Three Types of Translation
"In his seminal paper, 'On Linguistic Aspects of Translation' (Jacobson 1959/2000. see Section B, Text B1.1), the Russo-American linguist Roman Jakobson makes a very important distinction between three types of written translation:
1.intralingual translation - translation within the same language, which can involve rewording or paraphrase;
2.interlingual translation - translation from one language to another, and
3.intersemiotic translation - translation of the verbal sign by a non-verbal sign, for example music or image.
Only the second category, interlingual translation, is deemed 'translation proper' by Jakobson."
(Basil Hatim and Jeremy Munday, Translation: An Advanced Resource Book. Routledge, 2005)

•"Translation is like a woman. If it is beautiful, it is not faithful. If it is faithful, it is most certainly not beautiful."
(attributed to Yevgeny Yevtushenko, among others)

•Translation and Style
"To translate, one must have a style of his own, for otherwise the translation will have no rhythm or nuance, which come from the process of artistically thinking through and molding the sentences; they cannot be reconstituted by piecemeal imitation. The problem of translation is to retreat to a simpler tenor of one's own style and creatively adjust this to one's author."
(Paul Goodman, Five Years: Thoughts During a Useless Time, 1969)

•The Illusion of Transparency
"A translated text, whether prose or poetry, fiction or nonfiction, is judged acceptable by most publishers, reviewers, and readers when it reads fluently, when the absence of any linguistic or stylistic peculiarities makes it seem transparent, giving the appearance that it reflects the foreign writer's personality or intention or the essential meaning of the foreign text--the appearance, in other words, that the translation is not in fact a translation, but the 'original.' The illusion of transparency is an effect of fluent discourse, of the translator's effort to insure easy readability by adhering to current usage, maintaining continuous syntax, fixing a precise meaning. What is so remarkable here is that this illusory effect conceals the numerous conditions under which the translation is made . . .."
(Lawrence Venuti, The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation. Routledge, 1995)

•The Process of Translation
"Here, then, is the full process of translation. At one point we have a writer in a room, struggling to approximate the impossible vision that hovers over his head. He finishes it, with misgivings. Some time later we have a translator struggling to approximate the vision, not to mention the particulars of language and voice, of the text that lies before him. He does the best he can, but is never satisfied. And then, finally, we have the reader. The reader is the least tortured of this trio, but the reader too may very well feel that he is missing something in the book, that through sheer ineptitude he is failing to be a proper vessel for the book’s overarching vision."
(Michael Cunningham, "Found in Translation." The New York Times, Oct. 2, 2010)

•The Untranslatable
"Just as there are no exact synonyms within a language ('big' does not mean precisely the same as 'large'), there are no exact matches for words or expressions across languages. I can express the notion 'four year old male uncastrated domesticated reindeer' in English. But our tongue lacks the economy of information packaging found in Tofa, a nearly extinct tongue I studied in Siberia. Tofa equips reindeer herders with words like 'chary' with the above meaning. Furthermore, that word exists within a multidimensional matrix that defines the four salient (for the Tofa people) parameters of reindeer: age, sex, fertility, and rideability. Words are untranslateable because [they] do not exist in a flat, alphabetised dictionary style list, but rather in a richly structured taxonomy of meaning. They are defined by their oppositions to and similarities to multiple other words--in other words, the cultural backdrop."
(K. David Harrison, linguist at Swarthmore College, in "Seven Questions for K. David Harrison." The Economist, Nov. 23, 2010)

#2. Translation Theory

The Role of Translation Theory
Trans•late verb to turn into one’s own or another language (Webster)
By.SIL.INTERNATIONAL Research

To define translation is rather simple; to explain what translation entails is quite another matter. Explaining this phenomenon has been the subject matter of translation theory throughout history.
SIL’s commitment to scholarship in language development includes research in translation theory and practice in order to promote greater understanding of the process of translation. This research then informs the practical work of translation teams. In many places, SIL works in partnership with language communities to facilitate the translation of books and booklets for educational programs, stories related to culture and folklore, health and community development resources and Scripture texts.

Quality translation of these important materials should be:

accurate: representing the meaning of the source text as faithfully as possible;
natural: using the receptor language in ways appropriate to the text being translated; and,
communicative: expressing the meaning in an understandable way to the intended audience.
SIL’s approach to translation theory is multidisciplinary, involving Translation Studies, Cognitive Linguistics, Relevance Theory, Discourse Studies, and other related fields.

#1. Translation Theory

Translation as a communication process

by Frédéric Houbert


The translator, before being a “writer” as such, is primarily a “message conveyor.” In most cases, translation is to be understood as the process whereby a message expressed in a specific source language is linguistically transformed in order to be understood by readers of the target language. Therefore, no particular adapting work is usually required from the translator, whose work essentially consists of conveying the meaning expressed by the original writer.
Everyone knows, for instance, that legal translation leaves little room for adaptation and rewriting. Similarly, when it comes to translating insurance contracts, style-related concerns are not paramount to the translating process; what the end reader needs is a translated text that is faithful to the source text in meaning, regardless of stylistic prowess from the translator.
Yet, in an number of cases, the translator faces texts which are to be used within a process of “active communication” and the impact of which often depends on the very wording of the original text. In these specific cases, the translator sometimes finds it necessary to reconsider the original wording in order to both better understand the source text (this also sometimes occurs in plain technical texts) and be able to render it in the target language. This is the moment when the translator becomes an active link in the communication chain, the moment when his communication skills are called upon to enhance the effect of the original message.
The translation process here becomes twofold: firstly, the translator needs to detect potential discrepancies and flaws in the original text and understand the meaning they intend to convey. To do this, the translator often needs to contact the writer of the text to be translated (or any other person who is familiar with the contents of the text) in order to clarify the ambiguities he has come across. Secondly, once this first part of the work is over, the translator will undo the syntactic structure of the original text and then formulate the corresponding message in the target language, thus giving the original text added value in terms of both wording and impact. It is important to stress that this work will always be carried out in cooperation with the original writer, so that the translator can make sure the translated message corresponds to the meaning the writer originally intended to convey; remember, the translator is essentially a message conveyor, not an author.
In order to give an example of this value-added part of the translator’s work, let us take the following excerpt, taken from a speech to be delivered by a local official working for a French “Mairie” (i.e., the local authority managing public services in French towns and cities) on the occasion of a visit from British partners as part of a twinning agreement (I could also have chosen an excerpt from a translated advertisement, for instance, in which the rewriting work of the translator is also of the essence). This translating assignment meant more than just converting information from one language into another: it involved paying particular attention to the point of view of the translation user (in this case, the listener speaking the target language), in addition to fully understanding the ideas to be transmitted. This is obviously accounted for by the fact that a speech, just as any other direct communication text, includes an extra dimension as compared to usual informative texts: this dimension could be referred to as the “listener-oriented” aspect of a text. Obviously, the text of a speech not only has a written dimension, a quality shared by all other texts whatever the field, but also an oral dimension. This double dimension obviously needs to be taken into account by the translator in his work: more than is the case with other types of texts, the viewpoint of the reader/listener should be kept in mind at all times.
Let us take an excerpt from the speech in order to better understand the above-described process. One section of the text reads: “Je me dis qu’il est bon aussi de formaliser de temps en temps ces rencontres pour créer une mémoire collective de nos correspondances.” A rough translation in English would give the following result: “I feel it is useful from time to time to give these meetings formal expression in order to create a collective memory of our correspondence.” The latter part of this sentence sounds rather funny and the reader/listener will probably find it difficult to see what it means exactly. This is why I thought the source text needed a couple of clarifications; for one thing, the French “mémoire collective” has a historical dimension to it which I felt was inappropriate in a text meant to convey a positive, future-oriented message. In the mind of most French people, the collocative “mémoire collective” brings about images of the two world wars and of other vivid French historical events such as “Mai 68,” which as you probably know was a period of turmoil marked mainly by students’ demonstrations. Secondly, the French term “correspondances” is inadequately used (after consulting the author of the text, I found that it meant “all of the mutual achievements of the twinning partners since the signing of their agreement”). In short, the overall notion given by the French text is rather blurred, past-oriented, and the author fails to convey his ideas in a persuasive way.
After having analyzed these two inaccuracies with the help of the author, I came up with the following translation: “I feel it is useful from time to time to give these meetings formal expression in order to put on record our mutual achievements for better future cooperation.” This adapted translation is much more suitable for two essential reasons: it clarifies the original message, and consequently gives it greater power while also providing it with a positive dimension. I deliberately chose to add “for better future cooperation” in order to reinforce the cogency of the message, which the French original obviously failed to convey.
By making this choice, I decided to take an active part in the communication process by giving the message an extra dimension which it lacked in the original text: I simply chose to consider my work as a creative process in the best interest of the original message.
Let us look into another example taken from the same text. The first line of the last paragraph begins with the following words: “Nous souhaitons ce renforcement des échanges...,” i.e., literally, “We support this intensifying of exchanges....” When I first read this, I thought, well, who wouldn’t support a positive, fruitful exchange process? In order to avoid obtaining the same awkwardness in English, I therefore chose to stress the idea of support by inserting the adverb “fully,” which again causes the overall impact of the message to be enhanced. The edited translation finally read as follows: “We fully support the idea whereby exchanges should be intensified....”
As these two examples show, the work of the translator often involves a great deal of creativity, as well as a wide range of communication skills. This aspect of translation was also the subject of an article by Steve Dyson which appeared in Traduire (2/96), the journal of the Société Française des Traducteurs (French Society of Translators). Dyson calls this creative process “interlingual copywriting” and defines it as “the necessity, where appropriate, to give effective communication priority over fidelity to the original.”
Professional translators, while giving the above issues a serious thought, should however never forget that most texts to be translated do not require “adaptation” or “reader-oriented rewriting”; a full understanding of the source text and accurate rendering in the target language usually prove enough to give the client satisfaction and make the task of the translator an intellectually gratifying one. As with all other communication skills, creativity is best appreciated and yields the best result when used appropriately.

ada cerita di Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

Pada siang hari yang indah aku bersama sahabatku senang sekali pergi ke Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, salah satu tempat wisata yang terkemuka di daerah jakarta. Saat itu di kampus sedang tidak ada dosen dan akhirnya kami pun memutuskan untuk pergi kesana sambil merelaksasikan pikiran ini dari rutinitas jadwal kampus yang padat. Taman Mini Indonesia Indah merupakan taman wisata bertemakan budaya Indonesia yang terletak di daerah jakarta.
Taman ini merupakan rangkuman kebudayaan bangsa Indonesia, yang mencakup berbagai aspek kehidupan sehari-hari masyarakat 26 provinsi di Indonesia (pada tahun 1975) yang ditampilkan dalam anjungan daerah berarsitektur tradisional, seta menampilkan aneka busana, tarian dan tradisi daerah. Disamping itu, di tengah-tengah TMII terdapat sebuah danau yang menggambarkan miniatur kepulauan Indonesia di tengahnya, kereta gantung, berbagai museum, dan Teater IMAX Keong Mas dan Teater Tanah Airku), berbagai sarana rekreasi ini menjadikan TMIII sebagai salah satu kawasan wisata terkemuka di ibu kota.
gambar ini di ambil saat sedang dalam perjalanan menuju Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, kami mengabadikannya dari berangkat sampai kami tiba disana, karena memang pada dasarnya kami ini senang sekali berfoto ria dan bisa di bilang gadis-gadis narsis.
sesampainya disana kami pun langsung mengunjungi istana anak-anak Indonesia yang sangat indah, tak lupa pula kami berfoto di Istana anak-anak Indonesia dengan keindahan arsitektur yang khas.
setelah itu kami pun mengelilingi Taman Mini Indonesia dengan mengunjungi rumah-rumah adat seperti Anjungan Kalimantan Selatan, gerbang anjungan bali, rumah adat batak di anjungan sumatera utara, anjungan jambi, rumah bugis anjungan sulawesi selatan dll. Tak lupa pula kami mengunjungi museum perangko indonesia, museum transportasi, dan taman bunga keong emas yang indah.
kami sangat senang sekali bisa pergi wisata ke taman yang indah ini. semoga Taman Mini Indonesia Indah selalu dilestarikan kembali oleh pemerintah agar lebih indah, terawat, serta banyak pengunjung yang datang kesana baik wisatawan dalam negeri maupun wisatawan mancanegara.

Regulasi / pengimpor garam di Indonesia

1. Potensi pantai di Indonesia
Berdasarkan survei Direktur Jenderal Kelautan Pesisir dan Pulau-pulau Kecil (KP3K) tahun 2010, Indonesia merupakan negara kepulauan terbesar di dunia dengan total 13.680 pulau. Luas laut Indonesia mencapai 5,8 juta kilometer dengan panjang garis pantai hingga 95.181 kilometer. Dengan fakta tersebut, Indonesia menjadi negara dengan panjang garis pantai keempat terbesar di dunia.
Sekitar 60 persen dari jumlah penduduk Indonesia hidup di daerah pesisir atau di sepanjang garis pantai dengan mata pencaharian bertumpu pada kekayaan hayati laut. Potensi yang dimiliki oleh negara kepulauan sesungguhnya sangat besar dan tidak terbatas. Sebut saja garam sebagai satu dari sekian banyak komoditi yang dihasilkan dari kekayaan laut kita. Dari daftar 60 negara produsen garam terbesar di dunia, Indonesia masuk di urutan ke 30.
Di sepanjang garis pantai Indonesia, lahan potensial pembuatan tambak garam yang membutuhkan panas matahari panjang dan lahan pasir, juga cukup luas. Air laut membagi adil asinnya, untuk bisa dimaksimalkan di lahan-lahan tambak yang saat ini baru seluas 50.000 hektare. Padahal, dengan sedikit sentuhan rekayasa teknologi atap hujan, lahan tambang yang ada seharusnya bisa lebih luas lagi. Jika panjang garis pantai bisa dimaksimalkan menjadi lahan tambak, seharusnya produksi garam nasional tidak hanya mampu menjawab kebutuhan dalam negeri saja, tetapi bisa menjadi salah satu komoditi unggulan yang memberikan sumbangan terhadap penerimaan negara melalui ekspor. Jadi betapa pun panjangnya luas pantai di indonesia jika tidak di produksi sesuai dengan standar maka potensi yang ada tidak akan berkembang, bahkan justru semakin menurun.

2. Peran pemerintah dalam mengatasi impor garam di Indonesia
Produksi garam ditahun 2011 mencapai 3.4 ton 1.8juta ton garam industri dan 1.6 juta ton garam konsumsi, Meski jumlah kebutuhan sangat besar sebagai negara bahari dengan pantai terpanjang didunia. Dalam hal ini pemerintah seharusnya bisa mencukupi kebutuhan garam sendiri dengan potensi yang dimiliki, indonesia seharusnya memiliki importir garam yang terbesar didunia, akan tetapi sayang akan kurangnya tenaga kerja dan pembinaan garam petani masih merupakan garam perosok dengan kualitas garam rendah,kalau dengan 2 skala saja yaitu usaha garam diindonesia itu 21rb hektar klo kita tingkatkan produksinya menjadi lebih meningkat lagi , Australi dan India sudah 220 hektar pertahun. Sejak tahun lalu kementrian perikanan dan kelautan mulai bebenah dan memperluas program usaha garam rakyat mulai dirintis 2011 akn terjadi kenaikan mulai dari 300rb dengan 400rb ton 2013 sudah 1jt maka paling lambat 2014 sudah swasembada garam, kementrian kelautan optimis produksi garam tahun ini mencapai target 1.2jt ton untuk mengantisipasi panen ria garam pemerintah mengawasi pt garam dan importir untuk mnyerap garam rakyat,kepada pemerintah akn mngusulkan dana 44milyar namun kucuran dana tersebut bukan tanpa kritik , program dari kkp jelas bahwa dilaporkan akan menampung garam akan tetapi justru dibantu untuk pembelian dari pt garam dan ini menjadi rumit. Terlepas dari beda pendapat soal alokasi dana bantuan penyerapan garam, para petani berharap panen raya terus berlanjut. pemilik serta pemberdayaan teknologi petani berharap swasembada garam segera tercapai hingga petani garam pun sejahtera. Impor itu sebetulnya dalam pemahaman kita itu adalah sebagai pelengkap isu jalan trakhir dari pemenuhan kebutuhan didalam negeri, jadi kalau produksi didalam itu tercukupi kita tidak perlu impor bahkan untuk garam industri pun jika kita sudah berkembang dengan baik itu akn jadi stok bisnis, impor memang bukan barang haram, begitu pula impor garam tapi kebijakan impor harus dilaksanakan dengan aturan yang baik sebab impor ugal-ugalan justru akan merugikan anak bangsa itu sendiri.

3. Politisasi dalam impor garam di Indonesia
Politisasi impor pengimpor garam di indonesia juga merupakan salah satu faktor tidak berkembangnya potensi garam nasional. Bahwa dalam hal ini ada pihak” yang berkepentingan dengan keuntungan tanda kutip dari proses impor mengimpor garam, dari kacamata dagang dan industri impor garam sangat penting untuk mencukupi kebutuhan garam industri. Maklumlah seratus persen garam industri masih harus di impor, namun saking sedapnya keuntungan yang bakal diraih tanpa pikir panjang para pedagang besar juga mengimpor garam dapur, akibat impor petani garam lokal terpukul 2 kali perubahan iklim ekstrim dalam 1 setengah tahun terakhir menyebabkan musim hujan berkepanjangan, dampaknya produksi garam rakyat yang mengandalkan sinar mtahari hancur lebur sementara kini saat panen raya gelontoran garam impor merusak harga pasaran garam lokal, kesemrautan pasar niaga garam bukan hal baru tarik menarik kepentingan selalu terjadi bahkan unsur politis disinyalir ikut bermain pula dalam karut marut masalah ini, waktu itu saya usulkan dalam sidang kabinet bahwa karena garam itu diproduksi pada hamparan yg sama dalam tambak udang maupun bandeng dan pelaku usahanya juga itu-itu juga akan lebih efisien kalau itu dikelola juga di menteri kelautan dan perikanan. ketika petani garam belum tuntas diperdaya oleh gelontoran impor garam terus membanjir sejak kini ada persoalan politik kotor hanya sekedar uang yakni teman-teman pengusaha yang kurang memiliki jiwa nasionalisme dan para pejabat yang sengaja kecanduan impor terus.
Disaat Para pejabat berselisih tentang keharaman impor garam para petani masih dipusingkan dengan harga dasar garam yang tak kunjung stabil , kementrian perindustrian sebenarnya telah menetapkan PT garam sebagai badan usaha milik negara pengelola garam sebagai produksi garam rakyat,namun PT garam tak pernah mematuhi harga patokan peemerintah, PT garam malah membuat patokan harga sendiri , jadi selama ini proses penjualan dan pembelian itu bisa dikatakan lancar , jadi selama ini proses penjualan dan pembelian itu dikatakan lancar Cuma apa yang menjadi keputusan harga dari pemerintah sampai saat ini para petani hanya menikmati kabarnya saja,jadi harga masih jauh dari apa yang ditetapkan oleh pemerintah

4. Pemerintah harus mempunyai swasembada garam
Pemenuhan kebutuhan garam konsumsi nasional dapat diwujudkan melalui pencanangan swasembada garam nasional sejalan dengan visi KKP (kementrian kelautan dan perikanan) menjadi negara penghasil produk kelautan dan perikanan terbesar tahun 2015. Peningkatan produksi garam nasional akan dilakukan melalui berbagai upaya seperti optimalisasi lahan garam potensial, membangun kemitraan, dan memperkuat kapasitas kelembagaan antar instansi.
Garam memanfaatkan air laut sebagai bahan baku, di mana saat ini tingkat produktivitas lahan pegaraman di Indonesia rata-rata baru sebesar 60 - 70 ton/hektar/tahun, cukup rendah apabila dibandingkan dengan Australia atau India. Produksi garam nasional pada tahun 2009 mencapai 1.265.600 ton, masih jauh lebih rendah dari kebutuhan garam nasional sebesar 2.865.600 ton per tahun. Rendahnya produktifitas, mengakibatkan Indonesia masih membuka impor garam dari luar negeri.
Dalam mewujudkan swasembada garam tersebut, setidaknya terdapat 5 (lima) isu strategis yang akan dihadapi. Pertama, isu kelembagaan akibat lemahnya posisi tawar petambak garam. Kedua, isu infrastruktur dan fasilitas produksi, karena lahan potensial baru setengahnya yang dimanfaatkan untuk memproduksi garam dan dikelola dengan fasilitas masih tradisional. Ketiga, isu permodalan dan manajemen usaha. Pengusaha garam nasional mengalami kesulitan dalam mengakses lembaga keuangan pembiayaan untuk memperoleh modal usaha. Keempat, isu regulasi, yang menyangkut pengaturan pengadaan garam beryodium, penetapan harga awal, dan pengaturan garam impor. Kelima, isu tata niaga, terkait dengan impor garam sering dilakukan pada saat panen raya, dan masih tingginya deviasi harga di tingkat produsen dan konsumen, serta terjadinya penguasaan kartel perdagangan garam di tingkat lokal dan regional.
Sejalan dengan pelaksanaan otonomi daerah, maka peran pemerintah daerah menjadi sangat penting. Penanganan pergaraman nasional dalam rangka swasembada garam tidak bisa lagi dijalankan dengan bergantung pada pemerintah pusat. Untuk itu, kebijakan dalam mendukung inisiasi swasembada garam nasional akan ditempuh dengan 2 (dua) strategi, yaitu peningkatan produksi dan kualitas garam rakyat, dan pemberdayaan masyarakat petambak garam.

5. Peralatan yang dipakai oleh petani garam lokal yang masih tradisional
Akar persoalan yang ada mengenai impor garam di indonesia ini bukan hanya terletak pada potensi kekayaan alam yang begitu besar, melainkan teknis pemanfaatannya di mana mayoritas pembuatan garam di Indonesia harus diakui masih menggunakan cara tradisional, yaitu proses evaporasi atau penguapan air laut di dalam kolam penampungan. Akhirnya, produksi secara massal sangat terhambat akibat ketergantungan terhadap iklim sangat tinggi. Metode semacam ini hanya menghasilkan garam untuk dapur dan meja makan, bukan untuk keperluan industri. Cara ini tertinggal jauh jika dibandingkan dengan teknologi yang telah digunakan oleh negara lain untuk industri garam.
Belajar dari Australia sebagai salah satu negara pengekspor garam berkualitas tinggi ke Indonesia, bisa membuat tersadar bahwa panjang garis pantai tidak akan berarti apa-apa dan tidak bisa berbicara banyak untuk mencapai swasembada garam jika cara tradisional tidak ditinggalkan. Panen garam di Australia tidak hanya dari air laut, tapi juga dari danau garam, air tanah asin, danau garam kering (playa) yang berada di daerah gurun.
Maka, tantangannya yang dihadapi saat ini, bagaimana potensi yang dimiliki Indonesia bisa benar-benar dimanfaatkan secara maksimal sebagai jalan menuju swasembada garam nasional. Pemanfaatan teknologi yang menyentuh hingga petani garam, menjadi mutlak dibutuhkan untuk peningkatan kuantitas dan kualitas garam nasional. Tanpa itu, Indonesia akan selamanya bergantung pada kemurahan hari dari negara lain.