"Food Estate", A Fool-Proof Plan for the Future?

Food is essentially the most basic human need, aside from clothes and shelter. It's basically our fuel to survive. Yet, we still can't produce enough food on our own to fill the growing number of mouths to feed. Henceforth, Indonesia relies heavily on imports from other countries, which is a shame, considering the land is made for agriculture. According to the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) (*), in 2020, Indonesia ranked 65th globally for food security, with Finland at its lead; and ranked 12th overall throughout Asia-Pacific, with Japan at the top. There's been a lot of buzz lately about the recent so-called "program" that's being developed by the government in the agricultural sector, in an effort to improve Indonesia's national food security. That particular program is known to us as "Food Estate". So, what exactly is a "Food Estate"?

Food estate is essentially a concept that integrates not only agriculture, but also plantation and animal farm in an attempt to develop food source, which also incorporates the help of local farmers, agricultural industries and investors, and technology, in the hopes it will solve Indonesia's food crisis as well as improving the well-being of farmers and the community. This program is considered urgent in the effort to advance Indonesia's infrastructure and economic growth, and henceforth became a part of the National Strategic Project (Proyek Strategis Nasional/PSN) from 2020 to 2024. There've already been several food estates established by the government across Indonesia since last year, such as the one in Central Kalimantan, and North Sumatra, with plans to add more in several other places soon.

The recent and newly legalized food estate early this year is situated in East Nusa Tenggara, located precisely in the Central Sumba Regency. According to President Jokowi in CNN Indonesia (*), around 15.000 hectares are to be used for this program. The initial amount of land that is for processing is around 5.000 hectares, with 3.000 hectares used for rice paddies and the rest for corn. Shortly, the rest of 10 thousand hectares will be added, with 5.600 hectares for rice and the rest for corn. The reason why the government chose this place to execute the program is because about 34% of poverty is located there and harvest only happens once a year, and that's only for rice. According to the president, if the program succeeds in Central Sumba, it will strengthen Indonesia's food security and serve as an example of development for other provinces, along with the food estates located in Central Kalimantan and also North Sumatra.

To an urban planner, this program might seem like a perfect way to solve some ongoing problems. But unfortunately, without proper control and management, this type of large-scale program is prone to failure. According to Kompas.com (*), there've already been several attempts to use this type of program to improve food security in the past, such as The Food Estate PLG Program during President Soeharto's reign, or the ones in Papua, North and West Kalimantan during President SBY's reign. Yet somehow, they always fail to do so. Why? To sum it up, most of the problems stem from poor planning, unfit environmental conditions, not enough infrastructure, and financial problems. It will need a lot of time, money, effort, and careful planning to develop and adjust these lands so that they can be used properly. This time, considering how many times it has failed, will it bring any difference in the long run? Or will it be another failure? We shall see.

In any case, a positive outcome can already be seen from the yields of one of the food estates. According to the Ministry of Agriculture in CNN Indonesia (*), the food estate in Central Kalimantan yielded around 5,5 to 6,4 tons per hectare of harvest, around 2,5 tons per hectare more than the usual average of 3 to 4 tons per hectare. There's room for improvement but this goes to show that there's a possibility that it will somewhat succeed. If this actually works in the long run, it might be able to prevent Indonesia from having a food crisis from happening. And it might even be possible to solve other problems, such as economy, health, and many more. And thus, Indonesia might become self-sufficient and sustainable more than ever.

(*) Source:

Food Security Index

CNN 1 2

Kompas