Farmers as Subjects, the Path to Food Sovereignty and Just Agrarian Reform

JAKARTA - Food sovereignty is often spoken of as a great ideal. But, this ideal will continue to be a slogan if farmers are only positioned as objects, mere executors, recipients of programs, or labor on land that does not belong to them.

Farmers must be placed as the main subject. The subject means having clear rights to his land, having the space to determine his choice of farming business, having bargaining power in the market, and really enjoying the added value of his hard work.

Without it, production increases are easily fragile, so when costs rise, land is depressed, or prices fall, the first to be hit are always small farmers.

BPS data for the period 2023-2025 shows how strategic Central Java is as a mainstay of national food. In 2023, Central Java's rice productivity was recorded at 55.24 quintals/hectare, with a harvest area of around 1.64 million hectares, with a production of 9.06 million tons.

In 2024, productivity will rise to 57.19 quintals/hectare, but the harvest area will decrease to 1.55 million hectares and production will also decrease to 8.89 million tons. In 2025, the harvest area will increase to 1.67 million hectares and production is projected to reach 9.38 million tons by the end of December.

The message is clear, productivity alone is not enough when land is increasingly squeezed, production costs swell, and farmers have no certainty of business.

In the Central Java VI constituency, Wonosobo, Purworejo, Temanggung, Magelang, and Magelang City, the contribution of farmers is visible in the production figures, but is also visible in the challenges they face.

The data show that the production of rice in the 2023-2025 period is 60.651,87 tons (2023), 59.488,44 tons (2024), and around 62.631 tons (2025); equivalent to 34.878,40 tons (2023), 34.209,37 tons (2024), and 36.017 tons (2025). Temanggung also shows an upward trend from 46.499,41 tons (2023) to 50.813,53 tons (2024), then around 57.250 tons (provisional data 2025); the production of equivalent rice also increased from 29.221 tons (2024) to 32.922 tons (2025). The Magelang City is small in volume, but still part of the food ecosystem: 646.43 tons (2023) to 528.77 tons (2024) and around 512 tons (provisional data 2025).

But when we talk about "farmers as subjects", what we mean is not just collecting production figures. The subject means that farmers have access to decent land, tenure certainty, and a strong bargaining position. Therefore, large-scale food programs, including Food Estate, should not stand alone, but rather go hand in hand with equitable agrarian reform. Without reforming the land tenure structure, food projects risk widening agrarian conflicts, eliminating small farmers, and adding ecological pressure. The state must be firm, productive farmland owned by the people needs to be protected, not even marginalized by uncontrolled expansion.

In the field, the food issue is not only a matter of production. Farmers face prices at the producer level, availability and cost of fertilizer and production facilities, irrigation conditions, farmers' business roads, to post-harvest access.

In mountainous areas such as Wonosobo and part of Magelang, the burden increases due to disaster factors. Data on landslide incidents in 2024 shows an alarming figure: Wonosobo 80 incidents, Magelang 64, Purworejo 28, and Temanggung 24. This means that the agenda for food security must not be separated from the agenda for the environment and risk mitigation.

Another thing that often slips away, Dapil Central Java VI is also strong in horticulture. Temanggung was recorded as the district with the largest production of sweet peas in Central Java in 2024, namely 569.30 thousand quintals. Wonosobo and Magelang have other important commodity bases such as onions and garlic.

This confirms that food policy cannot be "rice-centric" only. Food diversification and strengthening of horticulture are not accessories, but strategies to maintain farmers' income while maintaining supply.

"Therefore, I encourage more down-to-earth steps," he said.

First, agrarian reform must really touch small farmers: certainty of land rights, prevention of the diversion of productive land, and the arrangement of partnerships so that they are not unbalanced.

Second, large-scale food programs must place local farmers as the main actors. Not just workers, but benefit owners, with clear financing, assistance, and market access schemes. Third, basic agricultural infrastructure must be strengthened, irrigation, ponds, rural roads, warehouses, dryers, to post-harvest tools, especially in areas with heavy terrain and prone to disasters.

Fourth, environmental protection must be a package with the food agenda, slope conservation, water management improvement, and landslide risk control must be included in the program planning. Including for areas in Wonosobo that are already dry, revitalization needs to be prioritized, because building new ones is usually much more expensive than repairing what is already there.

In the end, equitable food security is not just about production figures. It is about structural justice, who controls the land, who enjoys added value, and who is protected when a crisis comes. If farmers are placed as subjects, food policies will be more inclusive, stronger, and more resistant to shocks. And if the center-area synergy runs from the beginning, with local governments involved and farmers placed on policy priorities, then the development of food security will really lead to the welfare of Indonesian farmers.