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Govt allocates $8.8 billion for food security in 2025
The senior food minister says a nearly 22 percent jump in the government’s food security budget has been earmarked for next year in a bid to fulfill the President's promise to achieve food self-sufficiency during his five-year term.
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Farmers harvest corn on July 6, 2023, in Wambes village of Mannem district, Keerom regency, Papua. The village was the trial site of the government’s national food estate program for ensuring food security in the country’s eastern regions. (Antara/Sakti Karuru)
T
he government has earmarked a record budget of Rp 139.4 trillion (US$8.8 billion) to bolster food programs in 2025, according to the senior food minister, underscoring President Prabowo Subianto’s pledge to achieve self-sufficiency in producing key staple foods over the next five years of his term.
The 2025 food security budget is 21.9 percent higher than last year’s.
“This food security budget is quite substantial and spread across various ministries. We need strong collaboration to meet the 2028-2029 self-sufficiency target,” Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan told reporters on Wednesday, after a closed-door meeting at the Trade Ministry.
Read also: Prabowo promises food self-sufficiency within four years
The significant jump in the budget marks a departure from the smaller annual increases in past years: the 2024 allocation marked a 9.7 percent increase to Rp 114.3 trillion from Rp 104.2 trillion in 2023, which was up 12.9 percent from Rp 92.3 trillion in 2022.
Meanwhile, the 2022 food budget marked a contraction of 6.8 percent from Rp 99.1 trillion in 2021.
In his inaugural address on Oct. 20, Prabowo reiterated his commitment to achieving self-sufficiency in food and energy, saying this was “a must” for Southeast Asia's largest economy to become a more prosperous nation. He also expressed confidence that Indonesia could achieve food self-sufficiency in four to five years and become a major food exporter.
