Agencies, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday that Indonesia's rice production met all domestic demand, hailing a landmark achievement for food security – one of his key campaign promises.
In a speech to farmers in Karawang, West Java, President Prabowo celebrated an "important victory" in achieving rice self-sufficiency within just over a year since he entered office in October 2024.
"No nation is truly free if food is not available to its people. A nation cannot be independent if its food supply depends on other countries," he said.
Indonesia last achieved rice self-sufficiency in 2008, and before that in the mid-1980s.
Rice is a staple food in Indonesia, a country with a population of 286 million people.
According to the National Food Agency, a government body aimed at advancing food security, Indonesia produced 34.71 million tonnes of rice in 2025, exceeding annual consumption needs of 31.19 million tonnes.
"Today is a happy day for me," said Prabowo, who at the start of his administration set a four-year target for rice self-sufficiency.
It was achieved years ahead of schedule, with the government citing increased subsidies for farmers and streamlined regulations.
"If many critics sneer and say we can't achieve food self-sufficiency, today we prove that we are food self-sufficient," Prabowo said.
According to Statistics Indonesia, the country used to import rice from major exporters Vietnam, Thailand and India.
But according to the government, Indonesia did not import any rice at all in 2025.
On the campaign trail, Prabowo put food security and agricultural self-sufficiency at the forefront.
After assuming the presidency he launched a free meal initiative aimed at tackling child malnutrition, which he said provided nutritious food to 55 million people.
But critics have argued that Prabowo's flagship programme took away financial resources from other important initiatives, and pointed to more than 10,000 cases of food poisoning linked to the free meal scheme.
Late last year, a senior minister said that free school meals program was expected to reach 80 million recipients by April, falling further behind its targets.
The program is aiming to reach around 55 million recipients by early January, Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan told reporters after a meeting with government bodies to discuss food reserves for 2026.
Since its launch in January, more than 11,000 children nationwide have been affected by food poisoning, according to data from the agency overseeing the programme.
Prabowo had originally targeted the programme's full roll-out by the end of 2025. However, in October the target was scaled back to around 70 million as a result of a kitchen shortage.
Zulkifli did not explain why the targets have been scaled back again.