The Irony of Food Security in Indonesia: Millions of Tons of Food Wasted Every Year
Indonesia faces serious challenges in reducing food loss and waste. According to data from 2000 to 2019, Indonesia generated approximately 23-48 million tons of food loss and waste annually, an amount equivalent to the food needs of 61-100 million people. During the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum 2026, held in Jakarta on October 6, Mari Elka Pangestu, the President’s Special Envoy for International Trade and Multilateral Cooperation, highlighted the magnitude of this issue amid the government’s efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency and strengthen national food security. She explained that high levels of food loss are primarily caused by inadequate drying and storage facilities for agricultural products, poor road infrastructure, and weaknesses in food packaging and distribution systems. Therefore, improving infrastructure and supply chain management is essential to reducing food loss.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government plans to temporarily halt the development of new rice fields in forest areas, as current national rice production is considered sufficient to meet domestic demand. Instead, the government intends to optimize the use of degraded land to increase food and biofuel production without further clearing forest areas. The government is also promoting agricultural intensification by improving land productivity, advancing technology, and strengthening research and cross-sector collaboration. One of the approaches under consideration is the use of genome sequencing technology to develop high-yield crop varieties that are betrer adapted to water scarcity and rising temperatures caused by climate change.
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