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View all search resultsCritics slam Prabowo’s praise for TNI, police role in food drive
President Prabowo Subianto’s crediting of military and police for roles in the food sector may undermine food sufficiency goals and civilian authority, critics say.
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Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers hold harvested rice during a grand harvest event with TNI commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto on July 10, 2025, in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra. The harvesting event on a 80-hectare paddy field owned by the Bukit Barisan military command in the province produced 520 tonnes of rice to be used for the government's free nutritious meal program. (Antara/Yudi Manar)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto has credited the military and police for helping advance Indonesia’s food self-sufficiency drive. But critics say relying on the forces instead of farmers may undermine food sufficiency goals as well as civilian autonomy.
Speaking during farmers and fishers week in Gorontalo last week, Prabowo touted the military and police's contribution to agriculture, which he said was unique to Indonesia.
“Only in Indonesia do the police take care of agriculture. Only maybe in Indonesia are soldiers often seen working in rice fields. Only in Indonesia does the Navy plant soybeans. Only in Indonesia does the Air Force grow sugarcane,” said Prabowo, who is also a retired military general and former defense minister.
He called the deployment a strategy to strengthen national food security. “This is why Indonesia will rise to become a great nation,” he went on to say.
But as concerns grew over militarization of civilian affairs into 20 months of Prabowo’s administration, the remarks did not sit right with the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), an organization advocating for formers' rights.
“It’s an anomaly when an agrarian nation like Indonesia takes pride in soldiers farming or opening new rice fields. Those should be led by empowered farmers, fishers and other food producers,” KPA secretary-general Dewi Kartika told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Agricultural development that relies on the military and police would only “make food self-sufficiency impossible to achieve”, she said, adding that it was ineffective and had instead fueled problems including more agrarian conflicts.
