Defara Dhanya, Ihsan Reliubun, Jakarta – A member of running presidential pair Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar's winning team Wijayanto Samirin claimed that the government's food estate program is not the appropriate solution to the food issue in Indonesia.
"Rather than opening new agricultural lands, why don't we help farmers to boost their productivity," he told Tempo on Wednesday, Dec. 20.
In addition to increasing farmer's productivity, Wijayanto also expressed the need to improve farmer's welfare. "Fertilizer or seed aids, warehouse receipt, and contract farming are effective solutions," he said.
Earlier, Anies Baswedan said that his main agenda, if elected in the upcoming general elections, would be concerning food. It would not concern food estate, however. "Since what we are witnessing is agricultural production that is full of uncertainty," he said on Nov. 25, 2023.
According to Anies, this uncertainty causes various problems, such as the uncertain supply of fertilizer, uncertain prices, and an overly complicated subsidy process.
On the other hand, he is aiming to implement contract farming in Indonesia. Contract farming is a cooperation between farmers and processing companies. Meanwhile, food estate is a centralized domination of products by the state, which Anies believed is not what Indonesia needs.
"We need farmers across Indonesia to have an equal opportunity," he said. This will be realized through a decentralized agricultural landscape to encourage farmers to contribute more toward the food sector.
"Food estate is focused on the government's agricultural land intensification process which affects the environment," Anies Baswedan added.
Presidential candidate number 1 explained that his strategy to tackle this issue would be boosting farmer's productivity. "The farmers must be invited to become our partners and be facilitated," he concluded.