Muhaimin Iskandar Urges Indonesia to End Dependence on Imported Wheat Flour
The Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Muhaimin Iskandar, hopes that Indonesia will begin to break its dependence on imported food, particularly wheat. According to him, national food policy must be transformed to favour the development of local food sources and research-based innovation.
“Imported food, especially the dependence on imported wheat, must be changed. We must be able to produce it ourselves using more modern methods,” said the man affectionately known as Cak Imin, while attending the Agrotech’s Fair National Seminar at Sebelas Maret University (UNS) in Solo on Thursday, 2 July 2026.
He outlined three steps to achieve food independence. First, changing national food policy so it no longer relies on imports. Second, directing budget policy to support the emergence of local-based food innovators. Third, building collaboration between universities, practitioners, business actors, and the government.
On that occasion, Cak Imin expressed his impression with the innovation from UNS students who developed flour made from cassava. In his view, various local food innovations must be encouraged until they reach the mass production stage.
“I am ready to find investors, no matter how many, as long as it can be produced en masse,” he stated.
According to him, the greatest challenge for research and innovation from universities is no longer the discovery of technology, but rather the ability to bring those products to an industrial scale.
He assessed that changes in global geopolitics and economics mean Indonesia must urgently build economic independence, particularly in the food sector. The government, he said, is beginning to shift its development orientation from global dependence towards national self-sufficiency.
Cak Imin cited the rice sector as an example that has shown positive results. The government, he noted, has successfully reduced rice import costs by up to Rp 41 trillion, and government rice reserves have reached 5 million tonnes.
“This is the largest [achievement] in the history of this administration in the last one and a half years,” he said.
He believes the agricultural and food sectors possess significant economic potential that has not been fully realised by the younger generation. Currently, many young people believe that economic opportunities exist only in urban areas and the financial sector.
“In reality, the agricultural and food sectors are very profitable businesses,” he remarked.
He also urged universities to make research the spearhead of national economic and food policy. In his view, government policy must be based on science so that its implementation does not deviate from its objectives.
“Food independence must be rooted in science and research. Therefore, I hope universities continue to conduct research and identify which areas should be promoted to become sources of food independence,” said Cak Imin.
He expressed hope that UNS could become one of the centres for the national agricultural and food resurgence, while simultaneously producing a younger generation that views the agricultural sector as a business opportunity and a new source of economic growth.
“If food policy changes and budget policy changes, then we must earnestly embrace that space to achieve economic independence, specifically food independence,” he concluded.