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January 15, 2025 | 03:37 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Following the failure of its pilot project, the government is actually extending the food estate program in North Sumatra. Natural forests and customary lands are under threat.
Instead of halting the food estate program after the failure in Humbang Hasundutan, the government is planning to extend the project to three other regencies in North Sumatra. The government has set aside 34,000 hectares of forest in West Pakpak, North Tapanuli, and Central Tapanuli to expand the 15,000-hectare food estate project.
The government should have learned from the failure of the horticultural food estate program in Ria-Ria village, Pollung subdistrict, Humbang Hasundutan. According to the Community Initiative Study and Development Group, around 90 percent of the 215-hectare pilot food estate has been abandoned and is overgrown with weeds. However, rather than learning from this, the government has forced through a new food estate project as part of the plan to convert 20 million hectares of forest into productive land—as announced by Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni.
Ria-Ria provides many reasons to halt the food estate project. Rice and coffee farmers, andaliman pickers, and incense tappers have been forced to plant red onions, garlic, and potatoes, which is outside their area of expertise. And the results have been disappointing: some farmers who planted four tons of seed only harvested two tons of crops.
Therefore, it is not surprising that many have expressed doubts over the plan to expand the food estate project. An investigation by this magazine has found that the expansion of the food estate project has the potential to destroy preserved natural forests and to encroach on the land of indigenous peoples who have long fought for recognition of their rights.
The plan to expand the food estate project began two days before the end of Joko Widodo’s presidency. On October 18, 2024, Jokowi signed into law Presidential Regulation No. 131/2024 on the North Sumatra Food Estate Region Management Authority. This authority was established on the initiative of Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the then Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment.
There were immediate indications of a conflict of interest. The authority was planned to partner with a research institute and supplier of superior seeds known as the Herbal and Horticultural Technology Science Park, which is managed by Del Institute of Technology, a higher education institute owned by the Del Foundation, of which Luhut is chair of the advisory council.
What is suspicious is that Del Institute of Technology has no direct link with herbal or horticultural plants. The institute, which was established in 2001, is better known for its faculties of information technology, electrical engineering, biotechnology, industrial technology, and vocational studies. The government should work with higher education institutes that have competencies in the fields of agriculture, biology, or molecular biology.
The involvement of Luhut Pandjaitan in this project reinforces the impression that the food estate programs during Jokowi’s administration were more of a cash cow for those close to the administration. Therefore, President Prabowo Subianto should halt this arbitrary food estate project.
The new government should stop adding to the damage caused by the previous administration. True food security can only be achieved through the involvement of all stakeholders in the food industry, by prioritizing the interests of farmers, who are the people most affected.
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