Consistently Speaking About Food Sufficiency, Prabowo: Alhamdulillah, Now Many Are Aware That We Cannot Depend On Imports

Gerindra Chairman who is also Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto/DOC Media Team Prabowo Subianto

JAKARTA - Chairman of the DPP Gerindra Party, Prabowo Subianto, is grateful for the continued growth of the agricultural sector in the country so that people are safe from hunger and food scarcity, including when the COVID-19 pandemic strikes. The agricultural sector in Indonesia actually grew positively during the stagnation period.

Indonesia won an award from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) thanks to the success of food self-sufficiency in 2019-2021. This success was also appreciated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

"What I'm fighting for, I've talked about 10-20 years of food self-sufficiency, food self-sufficiency. Thank God, now people are realizing, we can't depend on other countries, we can't depend on imports," Prabowo said while visiting the Hamlet of Need, Magelang Regency, Central Java quoted from a written statement, Monday, October 10.

"It's not that we don't like foreigners, no. We must be able to stand on our own feet, our people must be prosperous. Why are we independent if we are not prosperous," added the former Chairperson of the Indonesian Farmers Harmony Association (HKTI) for the 2004-2009 and 2010-2015 period.

Prabowo reminded that the fate of farmers and the agricultural sector should not be ignored. Because, it will affect the nutrition of the population and the life of a nation.

He then explained the condition of 15 countries that were recently declared bankrupt due to the global crisis. The number is predicted to rise to 60 countries due to the state's failure to manage finances, causing the economy to deteriorate, including due to high food prices.

"There are already 300 million people who are now hungry. (A total of) 15,000 people die of hunger every day in Africa, in other countries. And it is estimated that next year there will be 500 million (starving people)," continued the Minister of Defense (Minister of Defense).

However, Prabowo said that Indonesia should be grateful because it was given a wealth of natural resources (SDA) and was fertile so that it never ran out of food.

"We are grateful to the Almighty, we can still do it. However, we must be vigilant because there may be areas in our country that are dry. However, we must be grateful to the Almighty, we are given fertile land, we can get food," he said.