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| Land is the Key to Food Security: Minister Nusron Warns, No Farmland Means No Food. |
Jakarta — Food security doesn't start with warehouses full of rice or fancy supply chains. According to Indonesia’s Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), Nusron Wahid, it all begins with one critical foundation: land.
Speaking at the Pre-Coordination Meeting (Pre-Rakor) hosted by the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia (BPK) in Jakarta on Tuesday, July 16, 2025, Minister Nusron delivered a strong message.
"There’s no food policy without land. Land is a human issue at its core. That’s why every food program must be based on land certainty," he firmly stated in front of BPK officials.
This aligns with President Prabowo Subianto’s national vision (Asta Cita), where agricultural sovereignty is one of the top priorities.
Strategic Steps from the Ministry of ATR/BPN to Strengthen Food Security
In his presentation, Minister Nusron laid out several key strategies the ministry is implementing to ensure long-term food resilience in Indonesia. These efforts include:
1. Protecting Sustainable Agricultural Land (LP2B)
This policy safeguards vital farmland from being converted for non-agricultural use, ensuring farmers can continue growing food in the long run.
2. Enforcing Protected Rice Field Scheme (LSD)
This program has significantly reduced the conversion of rice fields into industrial or commercial land. In the past, Indonesia lost tens of thousands of hectares of farmland each year. But since the LSD program launched, only about 5,600 hectares were converted across eight provinces over the past four years.
Minister Nusron proudly stated, “Since I took office, I have never approved a single request to convert LSD-designated farmland.”
3. Optimizing Idle and Expired-use Lands
The ministry is working to reclaim and redistribute idle lands, as well as land formerly under expired Right to Build (HGB) and Right to Cultivate (HGU) licenses. These lands will be allocated to the people, particularly small-scale farmers, as part of a fair land redistribution effort.
4. Accelerating Spatial Planning Completion
Accurate and detailed spatial planning — from the national level (RTRWN) down to local level (RDTR) — is crucial to prevent overlapping land use between food, housing, energy, and industrial development. The goal is to ensure every development agenda has its proper space without disrupting agricultural land.
Other key speakers at the event included representatives from the National Food Agency, the Deputy Minister of Public Works, and the Head of the National Research Agency. Minister Nusron was joined by Inspector General Dalu Agung Darmawan and Head of Finance and State Property Bureau, Kartika Sari.
Their collective presence highlights one thing: ensuring food security is not a solo mission. It takes collaboration across multiple sectors, because food starts with land, and land belongs to the people.