Food security was singled out on Friday as a priority for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the upcoming elections, as the largest party in the ruling coalition opened its three-day national meeting (Rakernas) with a policy platform that it hopes will allow the next government to weather a looming global food crisis.

With less than a month until registration opens for candidates in the 2024 presidential and legislative simultaneous elections, political parties have ramped up their plans for the campaign season amid global economic headwinds and the rise of climate-induced concerns.

In her opening address, PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekanoputri expressed optimism that the nation would one day “stand on its own feet” and limit its reliance on food imports given its bountiful resources.

“Without the slightest hesitation, the PDI-P asserts that food could become a symbol of Indonesia’s supremacy and leadership in the world in the future,” Megawati said at the event held at JIExpo Kemayoran in Central Jakarta.

“As long as we all have the determination to curb imports, we can produce for ourselves everything we currently bring in from abroad; because Indonesia is blessed as a rich nation,” she asserted.

Food security has become a topic of heated debate, due in large part to the knock-on effects that the Russian war in Ukraine has had on the global food supply chain.

At the national level, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration has sought to achieve food self-sufficiency since 2020, in part through a nationwide food estate program that has since fallen short of expectations.

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