Two years ago, in his inauguration speech on 20 October 2024,\nPresident Prabowo Subianto set a target of achieving food\nself-sufficiency within four years. The target was later brought forward\nto three years at the APEC forum in Peru, and then to one year at a\nplenary cabinet meeting on 22 January 2025. It was an ambitious goal,\nand many doubted it, until data and evidence earlier this year showed\nsurpluses in strategic foods such as rice and maize. President Prabowo\u2019s\ndirection and thinking on food were not new.<\/p>\n
Food has been a concern for Prabowo Subianto from the outset, long\nbefore he became President of Indonesia. This is reflected in the food\npolicy outlined in the Gerindra Party\u2019s Struggle Manifesto and in his\nbook Indonesia\u2019s Paradox and Its Solution<\/em>, which stresses that\nfood is a strategic commodity, not merely an economic one.<\/p>\n President Prabowo subsequently made food self-sufficiency one of the\n17 priority programmes and eight quick-win programmes under his Asta\nCita vision. The goal was then incorporated into Presidential Regulation\nNo.\u00a012 of 2025 on the 2025\u20132029 National Medium-Term Development Plan\n(RPJMN).<\/p>\n As the world marks World Food Day on 16 October 2026, the UN Food and\nAgriculture Organization (FAO) has chosen the theme \u201cInnovate today,\nNourish tomorrow\u201d. In keeping with that message, it is time to assess\nthe results clearly: what has been achieved, what has not, and what must\nbe safeguarded to ensure self-sufficiency does not remain just a set of\nfigures?<\/p>\n From dependence to sufficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n Data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and the National Food Agency\n(Bapanas) show that rice production in 2025 reached 34.69 million\ntonnes, a surplus of 3.5 million tonnes and a 13.29 per cent increase\nfrom 30.62 million tonnes in 2024. Rice imports, which stood at around\n4.5 million tonnes in 2024, fell to zero in 2025. Maize production in\n2025 reached 16.11 million tonnes at 14 per cent moisture content,\ngenerating a surplus of 0.47 million tonnes without imports. As of\nAugust 2026, government rice reserves stood at 5.24 million tonnes, the\nhighest level in the history of national rice stocks.<\/p>\n At the MPR\u2019s annual session on 14 August 2026, the President said\nIndonesia had achieved self-sufficiency in eight food commodities: rice,\nmaize, table sugar, chicken meat, chicken eggs, shallots, large chillies\nand bird\u2019s-eye chillies. This achievement matters as food crises loom\nabroad. According to UN reports, the war in the Middle East risks\npushing tens of millions more people into acute hunger. The FAO\nestimates that around 720 million people worldwide are experiencing\nhunger. Ample stocks give Indonesia a buffer when global markets are\nvolatile.<\/p>\n Production does not rise through slogans alone. From 22 October 2025,\nthe ceiling retail price for subsidised fertiliser was cut by 20 per\ncent under Agriculture Ministerial Decree\nNo.\u00a01117\/Kpts.\/SR.310\/M\/10\/2025, alongside a simplification of\ndistribution procedures. The impact can be seen in increased subsidised\nfertiliser distribution in 2026. Fertiliser is a decisive cost for\nfarmers. Lowering prices while improving distribution is a concrete way\nof supporting them.<\/p>\n Farmers need not only affordable inputs, but also certainty that\ntheir harvests will be bought at a fair price. The Government Purchase\nPrice (HPP) for unhusked rice, at Rp6,500 per kilogram, provides an\nanchor for rice farmers. For maize, Presidential Instruction No.\u00a03 of\n2026 sets a target of procuring one million tonnes domestically during\n2026, at an HPP of Rp5,500 per kilogram for maize with 18\u201320 per cent\nmoisture content. The maize is to be held as government reserves through\n2029. Under this instruction, maize will no longer be abandoned during\nthe main harvest, when prices typically come under pressure.<\/p>\n Farmers\u2019 Terms of Trade highest in 34 years<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most commonly used indicators of farmers\u2019 welfare is the\nFarmers\u2019 Terms of Trade (NTP). According to data from the Ministry of\nAgriculture and BPS, the national NTP reached 131.11 in September 2026,\nits highest level since records began in 1992. For decades, it\nfluctuated between 100 and 110, and briefly touched 100.15 in 2008. The\ntrend has climbed steeply since 2022, passing 112 in 2024 before\nexceeding 131 this year. This means prices received by farmers have\nrisen faster than the prices they pay.<\/p>\n Research published in the Journal of Agricultural and\nEnvironmental Policy Studies<\/em> (IPB, 2025) found a significant\npositive correlation between the implementation of the Free Nutritious\nMeals (MBG) programme and the NTP. It is important to remember that\ncorrelation is not causation, and the NTP is not the sole measure of\nwelfare. Nevertheless, the trend is encouraging, and MBG could become a\nmajor outlet for locally produced farm goods.<\/p>\n Self-sufficiency based solely on cultivation would be fragile. Added\nvalue must therefore circulate in rural areas. The government has\nestablished more than 80,081 Merah Putih Village\/Ward Cooperatives\n(KDKMP). As of 29 September 2026, 17,288 had buildings and had been\nverified, while 1,081 were operating. The cooperatives will matter to\nfarmers if they buy agricultural produce, distribute production inputs,\nand own rice mills and warehouses\u2014not if they are merely signs on a\nbuilding.<\/p>\n Lower fertiliser prices, guaranteed HPP and buyers through MBG and\nKDKMP mean little to farmers who have no land or whose plots are\nshrinking. For that reason, passing an Agrarian Reform Management Law\nwould be a fundamental act of support. The law would provide secure\naccess to land for smallholders and communities around forests, resolve\nagrarian conflicts and provide a framework for redistributing land\nownership.<\/p>\n At the same time, efforts to regulate forest areas present an\nopportunity. The Forest Area Regulation Task Force has repossessed 6.2\nmillion hectares of forest land used for oil-palm plantations and\n14,633.79 hectares of mining areas. For the results of this action to be\nfair, some of the land should be made accessible to small farmers\nthrough agrarian reform and social forestry. Meanwhile, the protection\nof Sustainable Food Agricultural Land (LP2B) must be enforced locally\nunder Presidential Regulation No.\u00a04 of 2026 on Controlling the\nConversion of Rice Fields. Production cannot be sustained if rice fields\ncontinue to be converted.<\/p>\n Safeguarding self-sufficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n The Asta Cita vision makes food self-sufficiency a foundation for\nnational independence and development from the villages. To ensure the\nvision lasts beyond one or two harvest seasons, several issues need\nattention. There are at least eight priorities. First, protect\nproductivity, not merely the area planted, through irrigation,\nwater-pumping systems, improved seeds and mechanisation. Mitigate\ndrought and El Ni\u00f1o early to ensure production continues to grow from\n2027 to 2029. Second, ensure subsidised fertiliser arrives on time and\nreaches the right recipients. Increased volumes must reach eligible\nfarmers, and the government should also consider adding more crops to\nthe list eligible for subsidised fertiliser.<\/p>\n Third, narrow the gap between prices received by farmers and those\npaid by consumers by strengthening community rice mills, warehouse\nreceipts and logistics, and making KDKMP cooperatives buyers of farm\nproduce and suppliers of production inputs. Fourth, extend price\nguarantees to horticulture, livestock and fisheries, including by using\nMBG to purchase products from local farmers, livestock breeders and\nfishers through contracts with cooperatives and farmer groups.<\/p>\n Fifth, maintain food reserves and manage imports properly.\nSelf-sufficiency in eight commodities must be supported by detailed\ncommodity balance sheets. Beef and milk are still imported in large\nquantities, so their domestic production ecosystems need to be developed\nmore quickly. Progress towards self-sufficiency should also be assessed\ncontinually against stocks and prices on the ground. Sixth, protect\nfarmland and expand farmers\u2019 secure access to land. Enforce LP2B to curb\nthe conversion of agricultural land, accelerate agrarian reform and\nsocial forestry, and ensure that the repossession of forest areas gives\nsmallholders and forest-edge communities access to land.<\/p>\n Seventh, renew the farming workforce and protect farmers. Measures\nworth pursuing include incentives for young farmers, broader crop\ninsurance and affordable financing through cooperatives. Eighth,\nestablish a single set of food data. Discrepancies between agencies\u2019\nproduction, stock and import figures undermine confidence among farmers\nand markets. BPS releases should serve as the sole reference, alongside\nBapanas\u2019s commodity balance sheets.<\/p>\n True support for the government is not applause, but scrutiny.\nFarmers\u2019 organisations should help monitor the implementation of HPP on\nthe ground, collect local cases of agrarian conflict and land\nconversion, and report obstacles to the Ministry of Agriculture and\nCommission IV of the House of Representatives. Self-sufficiency is the\nwork of millions of farmers, livestock breeders and fishers. Its success\nshould therefore be measured by whether these small-scale food producers\nbecome more prosperous\u2014not simply by whether warehouses are full.<\/p>\n On World Food Day 2026, there is reason for optimism. The next task\nis to make these gains sustainable: maintaining stable production amid\nclimate change, securing fair prices for farmers, protecting and fairly\nredistributing land, and ensuring the integrity of data. That is how\nfood self-sufficiency can become a genuine foundation for national\nsovereignty, in keeping with the FAO\u2019s theme for World Food Day\n2026.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sustainable-food-self-sufficiency-1792054340",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}