IPB Professor Criticizes Indonesian Govt's Unclear Food Self-Sufficiency Target

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Professor of Bogor Agricultural University or IPB University in Indonesia, Dwi Andreas Santosa, criticized the Prabowo Subianto government's food self-sufficiency target as still unclear. According to him, there are various definitions of food self-sufficiency.

"It's really unclear. Whose definition of food self-sufficiency is being referred to?" said the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Seed Bank and Agricultural Technology Association (AB2TI) when contacted by Tempo, Saturday, December 28, 2024.

Andreas explained that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines food self-sufficiency as a production-consumption ratio of one or greater. This means that a country is said to have achieved food self-sufficiency if the production ratio is equal to or more than one.

Food self-sufficiency can also be seen from the export-import balance. Andreas explained that a country can be said to have achieved food self-sufficiency if it has achieved an export surplus. Conversely, if the country's ability to meet the food needs of its population is still minus, it has not achieved food self-sufficiency.

In 2023, the Head of the IPB University Biotech Center once recorded the government's import realization for eight food commodities, namely wheat, rice, corn, garlic, sugar, cassava, and peanuts. Imports of all these commodities reached 29 million tons, an increase from 21.95 million tons in 2014 and 8.50 million tons in 2004. "If the definition is like "That, the apocalypse in less than one day will not be self-sufficient. How do we eliminate 29 million tons for eight food commodities?" he said.

Andreas assessed that the food self-sufficiency target needs to be changed from a target of self-sufficiency in various commodities to a target of curbing the rate of food imports. If the government is able to maintain food imports which currently reach 29 million tons, he said, that would be an extraordinary achievement.

Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo Adi previously said that the government would strive for all food needs to be met by domestic production. "That was the order of President Prabowo Subianto to be able to meet the needs of his own people, whatever can be done," said Arief when contacted by Tempo, Saturday, December 28, 2024. However, he was reluctant to specify the commodities targeted to achieve self-sufficiency in 2027.

Based on the Food Law, the definition of food is very broad. Food includes everything that comes from biological sources of agricultural, plantation, forestry, fisheries, livestock, water, and water products. Referring to this policy, Arief admitted that it is impossible for self-sufficiency to cover all categories. But he said the government will still try. "We can't achieve 100 percent. But that's the spirit. That's what we have to capture," said the former Acting Minister of Agriculture.

Arief explained that self-sufficiency is characterized by 90 percent of needs being met by domestic production. This characteristic, he said, is in accordance with the definition of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2009. With that understanding, he said that Indonesia has actually achieved rice self-sufficiency a long time ago.

Regarding the difference in self-sufficiency this time, Arief said that Prabowo wants self-sufficiency to be broad and comprehensive. This means that all regions at the provincial, district, sub-district, and village levels achieve self-sufficiency. According to him, this is almost similar to the situation in the past when every house had a rice barn.

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