Prabowo: Food Self-Sufficiency is a Collective Effort, Not One Person's Work
President Prabowo Subianto has stressed that Indonesia’s achievement of food self-sufficiency is the result of collective work, not the success of a single individual. The statement was made while attending the 17th National Farmers and Fishermen’s Week (PENAS) in Gorontalo on Wednesday (24/6).
Prabowo described the success in increasing national food production as one of the government’s greatest achievements in the past year and eight months. “The biggest achievement, and I am grateful for it, is that we have achieved food self-sufficiency,” Prabowo said.
According to Prabowo, Indonesia’s rice and corn production has now reached the highest record in the history of the republic. He affirmed that this achievement was born from the hard work of farmers, fishermen, the central government, regional governments, and the support of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the National Police (Polri).
Prabowo also expressed appreciation for the ranks handling the food sector, including the Coordinating Minister for Food, Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman, the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, deputy ministers, and regional governments. He assessed that food security is a strategic agenda that demands the involvement of all national forces. Therefore, the support of state apparatus in the agricultural sector is considered part of the national interest.
“Only in Indonesia does the police take care of agriculture. Only in Indonesia are soldiers often in the rice fields. Only in Indonesia does the navy plant soybeans. Only in Indonesia does the air force plant sugarcane. But this is strategic,” he stated.
Prabowo reminded that food self-sufficiency is not an easy target to achieve. In Indonesia’s history, a similar success only occurred once, in 1984, and it lasted for a relatively short period. “We are confident that we will achieve food self-sufficiency not just for one year. We will achieve food self-sufficiency forever,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman stated that farmer welfare is at its highest level in more than three decades. He linked this achievement to increased food production, rising agricultural exports, and reduced dependence on rice imports.
Amran said Indonesia’s food production ranks fourth in the world, with a total of 38 million tonnes, based on a recent announcement by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “That was announced by the FAO. So it was not us who announced it, but the FAO,” Amran said.
He added that the Farmer Exchange Rate (NTP) reached 127, the highest in the last 34 years. Economic growth in the agricultural sector, based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), was also said to have reached 5.74 percent, the highest in the last 25 years.
The performance of the agricultural sector is also reflected in export values reaching Rp166 trillion. At the same time, the reduction in medium rice imports caused import values to fall by Rp41 trillion.
The government is also accelerating the downstream processing of cocoa, cashew nuts, and sugarcane on 870,000 hectares of land. The programme is projected to create at least three million jobs by 2029.
In terms of governance, Amran said the government, together with the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), has taken action against 77 parties involved in violations within the agricultural sector. The Ministry of Agriculture has also dismissed 248 individuals suspected of committing irregularities.