The Food Estate Program,
What’s the Rush?

Food Estate Criticized, Prabowo Keeps Trying to Protect the People

After the failure of food estate, the Government Was Asked to Build Systematic Food Sovereignty

Food Estate Project is Stagnant, Law Enforcement Still Silent? DPR Says This

Prabowo Fails to Harvest Cassava in a Food Estate Project

Ironic! Some of the Failed Ex-PLG Areas Now Developed for Food Estates are Vulnerable to Fire

Ignorance to peat restoration, the threat of fire is haunting

Blaming on water, Development of Food Estate in Central Kalimantan will be optimal in 4 years

The food estate project is considered to ignore citizens' rights to food and nutrition

Arguments of farmers in North Sumatra regarding the failure of the Food Estate

Field story: The Food Estate Project, which farmers began to abandon because it did not live up to expectations

Prabowo stands-in the argument of DPR-RI regarding the problematic of Food Estate Project

House of Representatives Commission IV will form a special committee to oversee the food estate program due to suspected fake data of production

CIPS Researcher: Food Estate Program developed in forest and peatland areas that exacerbates the climate crisis and causes a loss of 427.2 tonnes of carbon per hectare of converted peatland

Denying the food estate failed, the Chief of Staff blamed the uncertain natural conditions

Various food estate problems experienced by farmers in Humbang Hasundutan

The threat of a food crisis must be overcome by developing diversity, not a food estate program

Food Estate Project Threat, Repeating Past Failures?

If Indonesia's food storage project fails, who is responsible for restoring the forest?

A land area of 2,500 hectares (Ha) is prepared for a food estate with the reason for supporting the new capital Indonesia

Professor and Head of the Biotechnology Center of IPB Dwi Andreas Santosa assessed that the Food Estate failed because it violated the 4 pillars of large-scale agricultural land development

The progress of Food Estate is slow, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing complains about the lack of people to work on the land

Director General of Agricultural Infrastructure and Facilities (PSP) of the Ministry of Agriculture acknowledged that there was the use of heavy equipment for stalled food estate projects. Currently, the condition of the heavy equipment is abandoned and unused

False promise of welfare from food estate project

Food Estate Feeding Climate Crisis

Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) said that the import of GMOs favored the control of giant corporations over the availability of seeds/seedlings in the country, so that farmers would depend on and buy from these corporations.

According to BPS records, the harvested area during January-September 2021 in Central Kalimantan reached 115,848 hectares (ha), in fact the realization in 2022 in the same period actually decreased to 88.064 ha.

The extensification of the Food Estate in Mulyasari Village, Pandih Batu District, Pulang Pisau Regency, covering an area of 103.66 hectares has been neglected due to water management problems that prevent rice from growing.

SPI criticizes the food estate policy to address food problems. Governments should avoid approaches that rely on markets and private power. This can create new issues, namely agrarian conflicts and farmers' dependence on corporations, such as seeds, and fertilizers, to marketing.

The area of ​​food estate in Central Kalimantan continues to grow, both for intensification land and new paddy fields. However, the government has difficulty finding tenants or workers

The Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a budget of IDR 2.3 trillion in 2023 for Food Estate and strengthening food production center areas

Food Estate Project Continues although Indonesia is Self-Sufficient in Rice

Entering the Food Estate Program, Farmers in Bentuk Jaya Village Complain Due to Floods Can't Plant.

BRGM on Food Estate in Peatland: Expensive Cost but Small Margin.

Moeldoko Admits that Something's not Right on Jokowi's Food Estate

Worried about the Ambition of a New Food Estate area: A Cover for Land- and Budget-Hungry Infrastructure Development

Messy Food Estate Project Ambition

Funds Lost in Food Support Infrastructure.

Making New Rice Fields is a Waste of Budget.

The results of satellite image verification by Pantau Gambut found patterned land clearing in areas of dense vegetation and peat areas

Minister of Agriculture Claims 100 Percent Success of Food Estate, Walhi: Stop Ignoring Farmers and the Environment.

Questioning the Minister of Agriculture's Claims on the Success of the Food Estate

Realization of Food Estate in Bulungan Regency Has Not Been Achieved Perfectly.

KPA Reveals 6 Food Estate Policy Problems.

Food Estate project development needs to be re-evaluated.

Professor of the IPB University, Dwi Andreas Santosa predicts the food estate program will fail.

Temanggung prepares 339 hectares of "food estate" land.

The food estate program in the Gunung Mas area, Central Kalimantan is considered to have caused the forest in the surrounding area to be damaged.

Pantau Gambut assesses that Indonesia's food problem is not about production but the unequal distribution of food.

Greenpeace: 700 Hectare Food Estate Project in Central Kalimantan Triggers Floods.

The Palangkaraya Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said that deforestation carried out to support a cassava food estate project in Gunung Mas Regency, Central Kalimantan, has the potential to expand flood areas.

Central Kalimantan Governor Optimistic Food Estate can reduce Indonesia's food imports.

The food estate area in Humbangan Hasundutan, North Sumatra, has taken over customary land.

Food estate in Pulang Pisau Regency is expanded by 3,000 ha to increase crop yields.

The Ministry of National Development Planning (PPN)/Bappenas conducts mastering or updating plans for the development of food storage locations in Central Kalimantan.

Central Kalimantan Develops West Zone Food Estate, namely in Katingan, Seruyan and East Kotawaringin (Kotim) Regencies with an area of ​​1000 hectares each.

PLN supports the Food Estate program in Pulang Pisau and Kuala Kapuas districts, Central Kalimantan by building a number of electrical infrastructure to illuminate an area of ​​20 thousand hectares (Ha)

The government's recommendation to speed up planting time from 2 times per year to 3 times per year makes almost 90% of farmers not get optimal yields.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment targets 1000 hectares of Food Estate North Sumatra to be completed by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Agriculture said that the Food Estate program in Central Kalimantan and several other regions is an effort to synergize across ministries in responding quickly to the Covid-19 pandemic to maintain food security.

The government continues to boost food estate development in four regions, namely Central Kalimantan, South Sumatra, North Sumatra, and East Nusa Tenggara.

The development of the Food Estate project in Humbang Hasundutan Regency, North Sumatra continues. Infrastructure development will be carried out in stages starting from 2020-2023 covering the Water Resources Sector with a total budget of IDR 406.9 billion and connectivity of IDR 619.1 billion.

The development of the Food Estate project continues to Java Island.

Members of the DPR RI Budget Board asked that the realization of the food estate budget should not overlap. It will potentially result in the double budgets that might appear in several ministries involved.

Pantau Gambut and WALHI Central Kalimantan issued study reports and field investigations, and analyses of food estate projects in the context of national food politics related to food politics and global political economy policies.

Commission IV of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia rejected the plan to submit a budget of 1,1 billion Rupiah from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) in 2022 for the national food barn or food estate program.

Residents of four villages in Kab. Gunung Mas, Central Kalimantan, refused to clear the 2,000 ha land included in the Ministry of Defense's cassava plantation trial area. In addition to the residents' plantation, several residents' houses have even been certified.

The provincial government of South Kalimantan is offering 10.000 ha of agricultural land in the peat swamp ecosystems to the central government to be used as a food estate. Meanwhile, the East Kalimantan Provincial Government is also preparing a land area of 2,654 ha to develop a food estate.

Commission IV of the DPR RI questioned the presence and contribution of Perum Bulog in the food estate project launched by the government in some regions. The project is considered not to have contributed to national food security.

The study results by the Yayasan Madani Berkelanjutan show that the Government provides a number of regulatory privileges to facilitate the realization of large-scale food projects in four provinces called food estates.

Save Our Borneo field observations at Tewai Baru Village found that 600 ha of land cleared for cassava plant development was included in the production forest area and had perfect cover, with wood diameters reaching 40 cm and above. It was replaced with cassava plants.

Central Kalimantan Provincial Government Ensures Peat Land in the Ex-PLG Area Will Not Be Used for Food Estate

Walhi Central Kalimantan, together with Pantau Gambut, called for saving the environment in Central Kalimantan from the potential damage caused by the Food Estate program.

The Governor of Central Kalimantan, Sugianto Sabran, said that the total planted rice plants reached 29,032.5 ha, 98.8% of the total target of 30,000 ha, and 15,862 ha or 52.9% had been harvested.

"Mr. President, give me special directions, so that the food estate in an area of ​​160,000 hectares must be implemented." said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan

The national strategic program for food storage in Central Kalimantan has crashed various legal and ecological studies.

Rice cultivation in the Central Kalimantan food estate part, to be precise on Pulang Pisau, has reached 25 hectares.

The food estate development in Ex-PLG Central Kalimantan, covering an area of 137,000 from a total of 165,000 hectares, will be completed in 2021.

The government has launched a rice import policy of 1 ton during the main harvest to secure domestic rice supplies in the midst of a pandemic.

The Food Estate in Dadahup District was flooded because it was in a tidal area. Besides, 88.5 ha of land, which was projected to become a food barn in Tahai Jaya Village, was damaged.

This year, a land intensification of +/- 40 thousand hectares will be carried out by revitalizing existing paddy fields, especially for irrigation infrastructure and cultivation patterns. For new paddy field extensions, it is targeted to reach 22 thousand hectares. The total land expansion is 62 thousand ha.

Due to the acceleration of crop-planting pattern that is recommended by the government, about 90% of farmers in Belanti were in huge loss.

Head of Horticulture and Agriculture Department of Central Kalimantan denied the fact that the yields were a failure, which he then elaborated it as the productivity drop due to strong winds and heavy rain.

200-250 hectares croplands were harvested and produced various results. Partially, farmers harvested the green crops which are not ready to be harvested yet due to strong winds that cause destruction to the plants.

Central Kalimantan’s food barn is in threat of crop failure and does not meet the expectation of many farmers due to many factors influenced such as the acceleration of planting stage and rice seeds which do not meet the land suitability.

President Joko Widodo requested the local governments to accelerate the food estate program establishment which is targeted to finish on 2021. In addition to the request, he asked local state chiefs to expedite the food estate permit issues.

The Central Kalimantan Provincial Government holds a meeting of the Environmental Impact Assessment Commission to discuss food estate activities.

The Ministry of Agriculture is optimistic that the preparation of the initial 30,000 hectares (74,100 acres) will be completed on time in December 2020 and that planting can take place early in 2021.

The deputy for regional development and spatial planning within the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs says 90,000 hectares (222,300 acres) of land has been cleared for the food estate and food estate masterplan is still being drafted and 60% of the environmental impact assessment has been completed.

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment confirms the locations of food estates sites in Central Kalimantan and North Sumatra do not cross the boundaries of protected forests or other conservation areas.

The Environment and Forestry Minister says the 165,000 hectares (407,550 acres) of land for the food estate is not peatland and is not located within protected forest.

Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar issues Minister of Environment and Forestry Law No. 24 of 2020, which authorizes the conversion of protected forest to food estate.

The Central Kalimantan Provincial Government holds a public consultation on the preparation of an environmental impact assessment for the rehabilitation and improvement of the swamp irrigation network in the food estate area, which totals 165,000 hectares (407,550 acres).

The Ministry of Public Works and Housing plans to build roads and bridges totaling 111.97 kilometers (69.42 miles) to connect the food estate. The construction will cost 1.129 trillion rupiah ($81 million).

The Minister of Public Works and Housing says construction work for the rehabilitation and improvement of the Block A irrigation network began in September 2020. The project is worth 738.04 billion rupiah and is being carried out by the contractors PT Wijaya Karya, PT Hutama Karya and PT Adipatria.

The Environmental and Forestry Ministerial Regulation No. 24 2020 on the Provision of Forest for Food Estate was signed. One of the main point on this regulation is that protected forest area can be utilized for food estate.

President Joko Widodo plants the first seed on the food estate. Besides rice, food estate sites will also develop other commodities. Within each area of 1,000 hectares on the Central Kalimantan food estate, some will be dedicated to commodities other than rice. If this model is successful, it will be replicated.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Indonesian army sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on the food estate program in Central Kalimantan.

The Minister of Defense says the food estate program will continue to grow to an estimated 1.4 million hectares (3.46 million acres) in Central Kalimantan.

The Ministry of Defense is to mobilize Indonesian army engineers to clear and grab land in preparation for cassava plantations in Gunung Mas District, Pulang Pisang District and Kapuas District.

The Ministry of Agriculture commits to providing agricultural equipment and infrastructure worth approximately 379 billion rupiah.

The United Dayak Alliance rallies against using transmigration as a method of sourcing a labor force for the national food estate program in Central Kalimantan. They claim the program sidelines the local communities.

President Joko Widodo allocates 104.2 trillion rupiah to food security for 2021. Some of the money will be used to develop large-scale food estates.

The Ministry of Agriculture says it has prepared 770,600 hectares (1.9 million acres) of land in the former One Million Hectare Rice Project in Central Kalimantan for food estate crops. Rice can be cultivated on three land types: tidal swamps, lowlands and peatland.

The State Logistics Agency prepares to build a warehouse and rice mill at a food estate in Central Kalimantan.

President Joko Widodo and key politicians visit food estate sites at the village of Bentuk Jaya, Kapuas District and in Pulang Pisau District.

President Jokowi states his intention to form an agency to manage the development of food estates. It will work with investment partners, state-owned enterprises and other stakeholders.

The Ministry of Defense is appointed as lead to strengthen the food estate program.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs says the government will provide a further 6 trillion rupiah for three to four years of the food estate program.

The Minister of Agriculture emphasized that he would not carry out a program to cultivate new rice fields on peatland this year, but will only intervene on mineral swamp lands with a water depth of 1 meter.

_{* No map of the location has been made available to the public.}

An interim report is issued on a strategic environmental impact assessment for the food estate site planned by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing.

The development of the food estate program is to be carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises through an investment scheme.

Developing food estates is recommended as one of the country's 89 strategic projects and named the "Program to Improve Food Supply in Central Kalimantan." This recommendation is legalized in the Revised PSEL Presidential Decree issued by the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment.

The Public Works and Public Housing Coordination Meeting finds that 295,500 hectares of blocks A and D on the former One Million Hectare Rice Project site could be developed. Of that, ​​165,000 hectares already possesses an irrigation system, while ​​79,500 hectares requires extensification.

_{* Fields converted}

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartanto estimates Indonesia will hold 4.7 million tonnes of rice stocks at the end of 2020, and says rice supply is secure to the end of the year.

Sunarti, head of Central Kalimantan's Food Crops, Horticulture and Animal Husbandry Agency, says 300,000 hectares of land has been prepared for food crops. He adds that if all proposals are approved by the government, the total land available for agriculture in Central Kalimantan will reach 663,287 hectares.

President Joko Widodo orders state-owned enterprises to open 900,000 hectares (2.22 million acres) of new rice fields on the wetlands and peatland of Central Kalimantan, in preparation for a potential food crisis related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

FAO released the statement regarding Covid-19 pandemic and how it could influence the global food chain due to the decrease of labour resources which potentially hamper the food and logistic distribution.