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Lack of young farmers jeopardizes food security, say experts
This year's BPS agricultural survey points to a lack of farmer regeneration as well as other factors suggesting a significant decline in future productivity, which experts say could leave the country dependent on imports.
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Smallholder farmers plant rice seedlings on Oct. 12, 2023 at a paddy field in West Karawang district, West Java. (Antara/Kuntum Riswan)
I
ndonesia’s agricultural workforce is aging as younger people show little interest in entering the sector, a situation that experts warn could make the country more dependent on food imports.
The results of a Statistics Indonesia (BPS) agricultural survey published on Dec. 4 show that nearly 19.5 million “individual farmers” nationwide were aged 45 and above this year, dwarfing the 9.85 million farmers aged 44 or below.
BPS distinguishes individual farmers from farming households.
“Gen Z and millennials are hoped to be part of the solution to aging farmers. Unfortunately, according to the 2023 agriculture census, the number [of young farmers] has decreased. This is a [wakeup call], and it signifies that the agriculture sector does not appeal to them,” Khudori, an agriculture expert with the Indonesian Political Economy Association (AEPI), told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Khudori warned that without sufficient farmer regeneration, Indonesian agriculture would suffer from a lack of innovation and technological progress, given that “older farmers are less adaptive to technology or change”.
He said in a press statement released on Tuesday that if the current trend persisted, the sector would gradually fall behind in its contribution to overall economic development and force the country to rely on imported foods.
“Relying on food imports or the global market is very risky. The protectionist tendency of food exporting countries will make food price volatility inevitable, and a food crisis will reoccur,” Khudori stated.
