It is believed that Austronesians (ancestors of the people in Southeast Asia) arrived in (present-day) Indonesia around 4,000 years ago, and stayed here because the soil (on islands such as Sulawesi and Java) is very fertile. Evidence of wild rice dates from 3,000 BCE on Sulawesi, while written evidence for the earliest rice cultivation comes from 8th century stone inscriptions on Java (which show Javanese kings levied taxes in rice).
Besides being the key staple food for Southeast Asia’s largest economy, the beautiful rice fields also attract many foreign tourists to Indonesia every year. Furthermore, the significance of rice for Indonesian society also becomes evident when we take a look at the latest poverty statistics released by the Statistical Office of Indonesia (in Indonesia: Badan Pusat Statistik, or BPS). What these data show is that poor people living in the urban centers of Indonesia spend around 22 percent of their (monthly) disposable incomes on rice, while this number increases to around 26 percent for Indonesians living in poverty in the rural areas.
There’s in fact no other food (or non-food) commodity Indonesians spend that much of their monthly incomes on. And, what this also means is that stable rice prices are crucial in the context of poverty eradication. After all, if rice prices rise (for example due to disappointing harvests), it threatens to push a large group of people currently living in near-poor conditions into full-blown poverty.
Or, when local prices of rice have to be stabilized through an increase in government spending then it burdens the state budget (with government funds to stabilize prices primarily being sourced from tax revenue), implying missed opportunities for other (public) social and economic development programs.
And, in case of an increase in rice imports in combination with a weak rupiah rate, it also adds costs (imported inflation), either for the consumer or the government.
The reason why we devote an article on the topic of rice is because there have been some interesting developments related to rice in Indonesia in the past few months. This involves: the price of rice, imports of rice, and possible malpractice at national logistics company Bulog (which is tasked to maintain price control and, if necessary, to engage in rice importing).
Moreover, rice has political significance in Indonesia. Since the Suharto era (1966-1998), the target of becoming self-sufficient in rice has been high on the Indonesian government’s agenda. However, this ambitious target was rarely achieved due to the combination of the rapidly expanding population (with per capita rice consumption growing accordingly amid sound economic growth and a reduction in poverty), and farmers’ usage of non-optimal production techniques, thus curbing supply growth.
Becoming rice self-sufficient would mean that sufficient investment has to be done in agricultural research and infrastructure to improve agricultural productivity. This particularly requires government assistance as, in today’s modern times, the rural sector experiences challenges with many rural people leaving their rural birthplaces in search of jobs in urban areas or even overseas. In Indonesia the young generations are less interested in agriculture, and prefer to seek jobs in an air-conditioned office. Many of these younger generations regard work in the paddy field as the last option. In fact, many farmers would like to see their children obtaining employment in the cities, so they can earn more and send remittances back to their rural homes.
Another process that is ongoing in Indonesia (and across the world) is urbanization, meaning that more and more people shift from being ‘net rice producers’ to ‘net rice consumers’. In July 2024 it was reported in Indonesian media that in eight provinces across Indonesia, local authorities are evaluating the size of local rice plantations as more room is needed for the government’s one million houses (per year) program.
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