Several criticisms from civil society have emerged since this program launched, until now. Public distrust regarding the implementation, management, and results of the procurement of these barns continues to surface. Skepticism concerning environmental protection, especially on the peatland, reserved forest, and annexation of local food source areas, to the intended benefit, is that really for the Indonesian importance, became the biggest question for more than two years of this program running.
To elaborate on Indonesia's food system problems and the latest conditions on what happened in the Food Estate areas, Pantau Gambut, with the Center for Transdisciplinary and Sustainability Sciences (CTSS) Institut Pertanian Bogor, PUSAKA, WALHI Central Kalimantan, Kelompok Studi dan Pengembangan Prakarsa Masyarakat (KSPPM) North Sumatera held an online public discussion on Friday, 23 September 2022.
Indonesia's corporate-centric food system problem, which contradicts the government's peatland restoration commitment to local social-cultural problems in North Sumatera, Central Kalimantan, and Papua province, became an essential highlight within the discussion. The speakers agreed that Food Estate is a rushed policy with a minimum study and contradicts the openness principle. Hence, the program needs to be stopped, and conduct further study.
Some important notes from the speakers' statement are:
- Food crisis anticipation is necessary, but Food Estate is not the answer.
- A local food system that is healthy, sustainable, and fair can build a robust food system.
- The government needs to protect farmers, not let them compete with each other.
- The Food Estate program needs to be stopped and evaluated; the government must recover the food stock fulfillment for civilians!
Recording can be accessed via the following link.
