FAO Awards Jokowi with Agricola Medal

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) awarded President Joko Widodo or Jokowi the Agricola Medal at State Palace, on Friday, August 30, 3034. 

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu presented the award directly to President Jokowi. The same medal was awarded to former President Soeharto 39 years ago. 

The Agricola Medal is FAO's recognition of world figures for their notable contributions and staunch commitment to elevating people’s living standards. FAO also lauded the figures’ great support for the organization’s vision of achieving universal food resilience.

"I express my great appreciation for the Agricola Medal award. This is an honor for me. Indonesia recognizes food sovereignty and independence as a basic human need," said Jokowi.

Jokowi said the award received was also for farmers who advance the food sector.

Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman previously compared the food self-sufficiency achieved during President Jokowi’s administration as equal to former President Soeharto’s achievements.

"Self-sufficiency was achieved three times in the current government (President Jokowi) during 2017-2019 and 2020 and there was no medium rice import for a population of 200 million. What does that mean? If we want to compare with 1984, I believe our efforts are extraordinary,” said the Minister of Agriculture in a statement in Jakarta, on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. 

On the other hand, the government’s food estate program is widely criticized. The government aimed to use food estate to achieve food resilience. However, the program is said to cause social issues and conflict of interest as well as questionable environmental balance. 

DANIEL A. FAJRI

Editor’s Choice: Sri Mulyani: President-Elect Prabowo Subianto to Maintain Food Estate Program, Budget Allocation Rp124.4T

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News