Food Self-Sufficiency 2025: President Prabowo’s Commitment to Realizing National Resilience
By: Cahyo Widjaya
The food self-sufficiency program, which is underway by 2025, further emphasizes President Prabowo Subianto’s strong commitment to building national resilience. The concrete steps taken by the government thus far demonstrate that food self-sufficiency is no longer just talk, but a reality directly experienced by the people, especially farmers.
With a clear vision, President Prabowo has made food a top priority, as independence in this sector concerns the nation’s dignity and the foundation of the country’s strength amidst uncertain global dynamics.
Since the beginning of his administration, President Prabowo has emphasized that food security is not only related to economic issues but also concerns national sovereignty.
To that end, a budget allocation of IDR 139.4 trillion has been allocated in 2025 to support various strategic programs. These funds are directed towards strengthening food production, improving farmer welfare, and building national food reserves.
The National Food Agency, in collaboration with the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the Indonesian National Police (Polri), and relevant ministries, is reviving the concept of food barns down to the village level, ensuring that production not only increases quantity but also ensures its distribution.
Government policies to set profitable grain prices and ensure the availability of affordable fertilizer provide concrete protection for farmers. These incentives create business certainty, which in turn motivates farmers to produce sustainably. This commitment demonstrates how the government is not only targeting food availability but also prioritizing farmer welfare.
Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan emphasized that the government is strengthening the governance of food self-sufficiency areas by prioritizing legal certainty, environmental security, and community empowerment.
He stated that synchronizing spatial planning between the central and regional governments is key to ensuring that programs do not overlap with protection functions. He also highlighted the acceleration of business permit processing as a crucial step for efficiency and sustainability.
This perspective demonstrates that the food self-sufficiency agenda is not solely focused on production, but also considers environmental sustainability and adaptation to climate change.
President Prabowo himself emphasized that Indonesia should not rely on imported food. In his speech after being inaugurated in October 2024, he emphasized that food self-sufficiency must be achieved as quickly as possible.
This view stems from the realization that in a global crisis, every country will prioritize its domestic needs. Therefore, Indonesia must be able to produce food independently.
Besides food, President Prabowo also highlighted the importance of energy self-sufficiency. The abundant potential of natural resources, from palm oil to cassava, sugar cane, sago, and corn, is seen as a strategic strength for strengthening national independence.
Efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency are not only taking place in the policy arena but are also being implemented directly on the ground. One example is the Simultaneous Corn Planting Program in the Third Quarter in Grobogan Regency, Central Java.
This activity involved the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Police, and Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives. Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni emphasized that social forestry can bridge environmental conservation and people’s economic development. Of the total 8.3 million hectares of social forestry land that has been issued, more than 500,000 hectares have the potential to be used for corn agroforestry.
Raja Juli emphasized that this land use supports President Prabowo’s instruction to make food self-sufficiency a strategic national strength. He added that the program not only increases food production but also directly improves the welfare of forest farmers.
By involving forest farmer groups and local communities, social forestry serves as a dual instrument for preserving forests while strengthening national food self-sufficiency.
Social forestry has achieved a target of more than 8.3 million hectares by mid-2025, with more than 1.4 million beneficiaries. The national economic value generated from these activities reached IDR 364.19 billion, while the value of farmer group economic transactions increased 32 percent compared to the previous year. This data demonstrates the forestry sector’s tangible contribution to supporting the food self-sufficiency agenda and public welfare.
Corn planting in Grobogan serves as a concrete example of how cross-sector collaboration can have a dual impact. In addition to supporting food security,The program also functions as forest and land rehabilitation.
The Ministry of Forestry even distributed thousands of productive plant seedlings, from teak to mango to avocado, to enrich village forest areas. Thus, communities benefit economically while preserving the environment.
Achieving food self-sufficiency by 2025, particularly in rice production, is a significant milestone in the nation’s journey toward food sovereignty. This success not only demonstrates the effectiveness of government policies but also demonstrates the synergy of various parties, from state institutions and security forces to village communities. Food security is not merely a technical achievement but also the foundation of national strength amidst global geopolitical dynamics.
President Prabowo Subianto, through the 2025 food self-sufficiency program, has emphasized the direction of national development, oriented toward self-reliance. Food, energy, and water are seen as key pillars of national resilience. With these initial successes already visible, optimism is growing that Indonesia can stand tall as a sovereign, competitive, and dignified nation in the eyes of the world. (*)
People’s Economy Researcher
