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Presidential candidates divided on Jokowi’s food estate policy
Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan have distanced themselves from President Jokowi's food estate program, which is Prabowo Subianto's key solution for food security.
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Field work: Farmers use tractors to plow rice fields in Belanti village in the Central Kalimantan regency of Pujang Pisau, which the government has designed as a food estate, on Sept. 4. (Antara/Makna Zaezar)
Two of the three presidential candidates have distanced themselves from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's food estate program, saying the controversial agriculture project may not be the right solution to address the country’s pressing food security issues.
Former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranono stated his intention to discontinue the project on Nov. 2, describing the program as unnecessary. Meanwhile, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan’s running mate Muhaimin Iskandar called the program a failure in September.
Only Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has stated in his campaign document that he will continue the program, for which Prabowo has responsibility within President Jokowi’s administration.
The program involves developing centralized, large-scale agriculture production with a focus on important commodities such as rice, corn, cassava, soybean and sugar cane.
Ganjar's campaign document states he will seek to increase production on a regional basis by encouraging each region to focus on commodities that are more appropriate to the respective local geographic conditions.
According to Guswandi, who represents Ganjar's campaign team, this policy could help eradicate poverty in the regions, as it would involve participation by local farmers. It would also cause fewer emissions, as it would reduce interprovincial transportation.
"The policy is inspired by Ganjar's experience [as governor] of Central Java, it will be upscaled to the national level. However, it is not a 'copy-and-paste' policy as conditions in Central Java are different from other regions," Guswandi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
