LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF INDONESIA’S FOOD ESTATE PROGRAM AND ITS IMPACT ON FARMERS’ WELFARE
Article Sidebar
Farmers’ Welfare,
Food Security,
Agricultural Law,
Sustainable Development,
Indonesia
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background. Food security is crucial for countries facing climate change, population growth, and supply chain issues. Indonesia's Food Estate Program seeks to improve food security and agricultural productivity while reducing food imports. However, it has raised concerns related to its sustainability and effects on farmers' welfare. This study aimed to analyze the legal sustainability of the Food Estate Program and evaluate its implications for farmers’ welfare from the perspective of agricultural law, environmental law, and sustainable development principles.
Research Methods. Normative juridical research design, the statutory approach analyzes key legal documents, including Indonesia's 1945 Constitution and several laws regarding food, farmer protection, and agricultural land sustainability. The conceptual approach applies theories related to sustainable development and agrarian justice. The comparative approach assesses international standards on sustainable agriculture and food security within global development frameworks.
Findings. Although the Food Estate Program is supported by a substantial regulatory framework, significant challenges remain regarding land governance, environmental protection, indigenous rights, community participation, and equitable distribution of economic benefits. Sustainable food estate development requires a transition from a production-oriented approach toward a farmer-centered legal framework emphasizing social justice, environmental sustainability, and participatory governance. Such reforms are essential to ensure that food security policies contribute not only to national food production but also to the long-term welfare of farming communities.
Conclusion. Achieving sustainable development necessitates a shift to a farmer-centered legal framework that prioritizes social justice and participatory governance, ensuring food security policies enhance both national food production and the long-term welfare of farming communities.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Users free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes .
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
References
Bayuaji ID, Sugiarto L. Review of food estate legal policy in maintaining food sovereignty based on state obligations. Law Res Rev Q. 2026;12(1):219–266.
Redi A, Mizuno K. Benefits and costs of legal policy for the food estate program in Indonesia. Law Reform. 2025;21(1):58–80.
Rezkika N, Haq MI. Implementation of food estate for improving community welfare from the perspective of agrarian reform in Indonesia. Supremasi Hukum. 2024;13(2):155–173.
Rasji, Tobing VT. Problematic analysis of the legal policy of the food estate program (government era 2020–2024). J Law Polit Humanit. 2024;5(2):983–991.
Yuwono FP. Legal implications of the Merauke food estate: a critical analysis of customary rights and environmental concerns. Lex Publica. 2024;11(2):101–120.
Hajad V, Yanda S, Ikhsan I, Herizal. Food estate and governmentality: state power in shaping farmer subjectivity. J Dinamika Pemerintahan. 2025;8(2):210–228.
Hidayaturrahman M, Handrito RP, Sugiantiningsih AAP, Ubaid AH, Haris RA, Suprianto. Food estate development: political-economic and legal perspectives. Indones J Advocacy Leg Serv. 2025;7(2):187–210.
Risdianto A, Jotham FM, Nurdin. Analysis of food estate policy implementation in protecting agricultural land sustainability and food security in Central Kalimantan. J Kajian Agraria dan Kedaulatan Pangan. 2024;3(1):45–61.
Sulaeman, Rahmatullah RA, Firdaus F, Fadhilah I, Rahmadani K, Hanny RP. Food estate: between ambition and reality. Policy Brief Pertanian Kelautan dan Biosains Tropika. 2025;7(4):1460–1466.
Rasman A, Theresia ES, Aginda MF. Analysis of food estate implementation as a solution for Indonesian food security. Holistic J Trop Agric Sci. 2023;1(1):1–15.
FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO. The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2024: financing to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; 2024.
Clapp J. Food self-sufficiency: making sense of it, and when it makes sense. Food Policy. 2017;66:88–96. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.12.001.
Candel JJL. Food security governance: a systematic literature review. Food Secur. 2014;6(4):585–601. doi:10.1007/s12571-014-0364-2.
Godfray HCJ, Beddington JR, Crute IR, Haddad L, Lawrence D, Muir JF, et al. Food security: the challenge of feeding 9 billion people. Science. 2010;327(5967):812–818. doi:10.1126/science.1185383.
Pretty J, Toulmin C, Williams S. Sustainable intensification in African agriculture. Int J Agric Sustain. 2011;9(1):5–24. doi:10.3763/ijas.2010.0583.
Rockström J, Williams J, Daily G, Noble A, Matthews N, Gordon L, et al. Sustainable intensification of agriculture for human prosperity and global sustainability. Ambio. 2017;46(1):4–17. doi:10.1007/s13280-016-0793-6.
Lal R. Soil health and carbon management. Food Energy Secur. 2016;5(4):212–222. doi:10.1002/fes3.96.
Tittonell P. Ecological intensification of agriculture—sustainable by nature. Curr Opin Environ Sustain. 2014;8:53–61. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2014.08.006.
De Schutter O. The right to food and the capability approach. Agric Hum Values. 2014;31(2):193–207. doi:10.1007/s10460-013-9489-z.
Wittman H, Desmarais AA, Wiebe N, editors. Food sovereignty: reconnecting food, nature and community. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing; 2010.
Borras SM Jr, Franco JC. Global land grabbing and trajectories of agrarian change: a preliminary analysis. J Agrar Change. 2012;12(1):34–59. doi:10.1111/j.1471-0366.2011.00339.x.
Cotula L. The outlook on farmland acquisitions. Int Inst Environ Dev. 2012;1–6. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2145685.
Zoomers A. Globalisation and the foreignisation of space: seven processes driving the current global land grab. J Peasant Stud. 2010;37(2):429–447. doi:10.1080/03066151003595325.
Scoones I, Hall R, Borras SM Jr, White B, Wolford W. The politics of evidence: methodologies for understanding the global land rush. J Peasant Stud. 2013;40(3):469–483. doi:10.1080/03066150.2013.801341.
Ostrom E. A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science. 2009;325(5939):419–422. doi:10.1126/science.1172133.
Biermann F, Pattberg P, van Asselt H, Zelli F. The fragmentation of global governance architectures: a framework for analysis. Glob Environ Polit. 2009;9(4):14–40. doi:10.1162/glep.2009.9.4.14.
Barbier EB, Hochard JP. Land degradation and poverty. Nat Sustain. 2018;1(11):623–631. doi:10.1038/s41893-018-0155-4.
IPCC. Climate change 2023: synthesis report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva: IPCC; 2023.
United Nations. Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. New York: United Nations; 2015.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP). United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/73/165. New York: United Nations; 2018.