Glembert
KN. For Prabowo Subianto, who took office in October, boosting domestic food production in the country of more than 280 million is a sorely missing key to cementing the country’s security, self-reliance, health, and international status. The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) estimates that more than 23 million Indonesians are unable to meet their dietary requirements due to food supply insecurity. More than one child in five has stunted growth due to malnutrition, the WFP says. And Indonesia ranks the worst among its principal Southeast Asia peers in the Global Hunger Index, sitting 77th out of 127 countries.
Prabowo has declared food security a priority, but experts say his flagship policy of food self-sufficiency needs work. “It is crucial to address key challenges such as enhancing agricultural productivity and reducing inefficiencies in the supply chain,” Fithra Faisal Hastiadi, senior economist at Samuel Sekuritas Indonesia, told Nikkei.
Indonesian Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni announced plans to utilize 20 million hectares of reserve forest for food and energy security. The initiative includes cultivating 1.1 million hectares for rice production to reduce rice imports and planting 1.5 million hectares of sugar palm to produce bioethanol, replacing imported fuel. The program aims to enhance food self-sufficiency, boost renewable energy, and support local communities, implemented collaboratively with the Ministries of Agriculture and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
Indonesia has said it aims to start producing nuclear power by 2032 to meet electricity needs and attain environmental goals although serious concerns remain about the cost, safety, and risk of setting up an atomic power plant.
According to a senior official of American firm ThorCon’s local unit, the company will be building the country’s first nuclear power plant on Kelasa island in the Bangka Belitung archipelagic province off the southeastern coast of Sumatra. Meanwhile, Indra Gunawan, a spokesperson for the National Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (BAPETEN), said the location for the first nuclear power plant was “still in the site study phase.” There had been no request so far to BAPETEN for a permit to build a nuclear power plant on Kelasa Island, he added.
President Prabowo Subianto was instructed his ministers to halt the importation of rice, salt, consumable sugar, and corn in 2025, Food Coordinating Minister Zulkifli Hasan said. Speaking to the press after the meeting at the State Palace, Hasan said that no import quotas would be set for these commodities in 2025. During the same meeting, the president also decided to raise the government’s purchasing price (HPP) for unhusked rice from IDR6,000 (around $0.37) to IDR6,500 (around $0.40).
Indonesia’s renewable energy journey has been fraught with slow progress. In 2014, renewable energy contributed to seven percent of total energy supply. A decade later, it only reached 14 percent, far from meeting the 23 percent target stipulated in the 2014 National Energy Policy (KEN). Moreover, the initial goal of achieving a 23 percent share by 2025 has been downgraded to 17–19 percent.
Meanwhile, the country remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, with coal dominating the electricity sector and contributing 67 percent of consumption. This reliance on coal isn’t just an environmental issue, it’s an economic and political one. Despite these challenges, Indonesia holds immense promise.
The government has initiated several policies to catalyze investment, including Presidential Regulation No.112 2022, which mandates coal phase-out by 2050, the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) to support early coal power retirement and renewable development and the $21 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). This plan aims to decarbonize Indonesia’s energy system through targeted investments and policy reforms. If implemented effectively, JETP could lay the groundwork for a comprehensive energy transformation.
The subsidized fertilizer distribution policy in Indonesia is entering a new phase that is simpler and more effective.
The government has doubled the subsidized fertilizer quota from 4.7 million tons to 9.55 million tons. About 500,000 tons are organic fertilizers. This increase aims to make sure that farmers have access to fertilizers during the planting season.
This year was another difficult one for Indonesia’s energy transition, with both targets and policies falling short of expectations, and analysts say the same stumbling blocks could hinder President Prabowo Subianto’s ambitious new energy pledges.
As of early December, the country had attracted $1.49 billion in new and renewable energy investment this year, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. If the ministry had not slashed the target to $1.23 billion, it would have missed its goal, which was set at $2.62 billion in January.
Indonesia has installed a total of 547.41 megawatts (MW) of additional renewable energy capacity this year, while it had hoped to add over 730 MW. The country has fallen short of similar targets in recent years, and in January, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry announced it was considering slashing the targeted share of renewables in the national energy mix to between 17 and 19 percent by the end of 2025 from the previous 23 percent. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said that the government has yet to discuss plans to curb next year’s nickel production quota amid slumping prices.
Indonesia, the world’s top nickel supplier, was reportedly weighing deep production cuts to the metal’s mining quota and is considering lowering the amount of ore mined next year to as low as 150 million tonnes from 227 million tonnes this year, Bloomberg News reported on Dec. 19.
Tri Winarno, the ministry’s coal and mineral mining director general, said the government will evaluate nickel miners’ compliance with the budget plans (RKAB) for the time being. “As of today, there have been no talks,” he said as Kumparan reported. “There are no discussions to slash [output quotas], but we will evaluate companies’ compliance with their obligations.”
Nickel futures fell to US$15,260 per tonne in December, the lowest in over four years amid pressure from a stronger dollar, uncertain demand and ample supply, Trading Economics data shows.
