Coordinating Minister Zulhas Admits Almost All Indonesian Food Needs From Imports

Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs, Zulkifli Hasan admitted that currently Indonesia's food needs still depend on imported commodities.

For example, he continued, the types of food that are usually consumed by the Indonesian people in the morning, such as bread and noodles are made of wheat flour. Where, wheat is a commodity that is entirely imported.

"If you eat bread early in the morning, eat fried noodles, it's 100 percent imported, wheat. How much is the import? Approximately 13 million tons per year, it continues to rise. I initially became a DPR of 6 million tons, now 13 million tons," he said at the Indonesia Summit 2025 event at The Tribarata, Dharmawangsa, Jakarta, Thursday, August 28.

The man who is familiarly called Zulhas said that tempeh and tofu that are usually consumed by Indonesians are also made of food commodities that are 100 percent imported.

"After that, it's not good if there's no side dish, tempeh or fried tofu, 100 percent import soybeans, we're about to import 3 million," he said.

Not only that, Zulhas said food and drinks with sweeteners sold in Indonesia, the sweeteners are made of sugar, which is also mostly imported.

"Do you know how much sugar we import? We import about 6 million tons of sugar per year," he said.

Therefore, said Zulhas, President Prabowo Subianto boosted the food self-sufficiency program.

Dia mengakui untuk mencapai target itu tidak mudah.

Namun, pemerintah akan memulainya dengan pemberdayaan masyarakat.

Dengan adanya pelatihan, sambung Zulhas, generasi muda diarahkan untuk lebih produktif. Sehingga, tidak hanya mengandalkan bantuan sosial (bansos).

“Ini yang Pak Prabowo inginkan. Bantuan tetap, oke. Tapi kita melatih anak muda kita produktif, makanya itu ada pemberdayaan,” ucapnya.

He admits that achieving that target is not easy.

However, the government will start with community empowerment.

With the training, continued Zulhas, the younger generation is directed to be more productive. Thus, not only relying on social assistance (bansos).

"This is what Pak Prabowo wants. Assistance remains, okay. But we train our young people to be productive, that's why there is empowerment," he said.