JAKARTA - Deputy Coordinating Minister for Food and Agriculture Hanif Faisol Nurofiq stated that the proposal to include sugar in the food assistance program still requires government study by considering various aspects comprehensively.
Hanif said the government continued to pay attention to various inputs related to strengthening the food assistance program to support national food security in a sustainable manner.
"Well, this is related to the context of food independence, of course it is an important thing. But in the (sugar entering the food assistance component), it seems that it has not (been discussed)," said Hanif as reported by ANTARA, Sunday, June 14.
One of the proposals that emerged came from the sugar cane farmers who encouraged that the sugar commodity could be part of the government's food assistance program.
Hanif conveyed that the government appreciates every input from stakeholders as a consideration in formulating appropriate food policies that are beneficial to the community.
According to him, discussions regarding the possibility of adding commodities to food assistance need to be carried out carefully by taking into account various interrelated aspects.
In addition to supporting the strengthening of the national food sector, the government also considers various other factors so that the policies taken still provide optimal benefits for the wider community.
Hanif emphasized that the government would continue to open up space for dialogue and studies on various strategic proposals to strengthen food security and support national food self-sufficiency.
However, he said that there was currently no discussion regarding the proposal for sugar commodities to be included in the food assistance component, which currently includes rice and sugar targeting 33.2 million beneficiary families throughout Indonesia.
"If it hasn't been (discussed), we haven't looked at it yet. Because sugar needs can't be considered from one side, there is another side that we also need to consider," he said.
The Indonesian People's Sugarcane Farmers Association (APTRI) encourages the government to include granulated sugar as a component of the national food assistance to strengthen the protection of sugarcane farmers and maintain the balance of the domestic sugar commodity market.
APTRI assessed that the addition of sugar in food assistance could be a strategic step for the government to help maintain people's purchasing power while increasing the certainty of absorbing the production of national farmers' sugar.
According to the farmers' association, the need for sugar in food aid does not need to be as large as rice commodities because the volume of sugar consumption by the community is much smaller than the daily national rice needs.
APTRI proposes that the government simply distribute one kilogram of sugar in each food assistance package if the distribution of rice reaches 10 kilograms to the beneficiaries.
"You don't have to give much sugar, because the sugar needs this volume is 10 percent of the rice needs. So if the rice is given 10 kilograms, the sugar will be 1 kilogram. If it is considered that sugar is too expensive," said APTRI Chairman Soemitro Samadikoen after opening the APTRI National Working Meeting in Jakarta, Monday, May 25, 2026.
Meanwhile, the government through Perum Bulog continues to distribute food assistance in the form of rice and cooking oil to 33.2 million beneficiary families in various regions throughout Indonesia gradually.
In the economic stimulus program, each beneficiary family receives a February-March 2026 allocation in the form of 20 kilograms of rice and four liters of cooking oil to help meet community needs.
Bulog is currently continuing to intensify the assistance to reach the distribution target.
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