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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Economy & Trade

‘Pangan Indonesia’ Book Presents Food as Key to the Quality of Indonesian Life

From Republika · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • The book examines nine strategic food commodities and links production and consumption to nutrition and the quality of Indonesia’s human resources.
  • It highlights 2025 rice production of about 34 million tonnes, above estimated consumption needs of about 31 million tonnes.
  • Speakers described food as central to Indonesia’s national identity, self-reliance and efforts to build a healthy, productive population.

Indonesia’s food story is not only about what reaches the plate. A new book launched at IdeaFest 2026 presents food as a determinant of the health, intelligence, productivity and competitiveness of the country’s people.

Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan and presidential special adviser for communications and policy analysis Dirgayuza Setiawan launched “Pangan Indonesia: From a Healthy Plate to Superior People” on Friday, September 4, 2026. The book follows Indonesia’s food journey through nine strategic commodities: rice, corn, soybeans, ruminant meat, chicken, fish, eggs, milk and sugar.

Food is about life. But more than that, food is about who we are as a nation.

· Zulkifli HasanThe coordinating food minister made the statement at the book launch while linking food policy to Indonesian national identity.

Its discussion goes beyond production and consumption. It connects food supplies with nutrition and the quality of Indonesia’s human resources. Hasan said food was tied to the country’s identity and to the effort to build a self-reliant Indonesia with a healthy and productive population.

One figure highlighted in the book is national rice production. In 2025, Indonesia produced around 34 million tonnes of rice, compared with estimated consumption needs of about 31 million tonnes. Hasan described the result as a foundation for the country’s path toward food sovereignty, while stressing that it marked the beginning of broader work rather than an endpoint.

Building a food ecosystem, he said, requires farmers, fishers, businesses, academics and the wider public. The effort also includes improving people’s understanding of food sources and nutritional value.

But this achievement is not the finish line. It is the starting line for greater work, building Indonesian food for the civilization of the future.

· Zulkifli HasanHe used the 2025 rice production figure to argue that progress should lead to broader food-sector efforts.

Setiawan said the book treats food as part of Indonesia’s history and identity. Consumption patterns differ across the country, and some foods now commonly eaten have relatively recent histories. Local sources including sago, taro, breadfruit, foxtail millet, corn and tubers have long formed part of the Nusantara diet.

The book contains four chapters covering the meaning of food sovereignty, strategic commodities, consumption history and patterns, government policy, and the national food ecosystem. Its launch at the 15th IdeaFest introduced those issues to a wider audience.

This book speaks about national identity. About how food shapes the health, intelligence, productivity and competitiveness of Indonesian people.

· Dirgayuza SetiawanThe presidential special adviser described the book’s central theme at the launch.
About this summary

Originally published by Republika in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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