Joko Widodo Lays Out Agricultural Manifesto for Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Deti Mega Purnamasari & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Apr 27, 2014

A Balinese farmer threshes rice in Denpasar. (EPA Photo/Made Nahi)

Jakarta. Over a month after officially entering the presidential race, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, nominated as presidential candidate by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, has begun introducing his vision and mission to the voters.

Visiting local farmers at the Tanjungrasa village in Bogor district’s Cariu subdistrict, Joko on Sunday addressed six points in the field of agriculture and food security that would be his focus should he be elected president in the election set to take place on July 9.

Productive agricultural lands, Joko said, should not be converted into other use, such as residential or industrial areas, and should instead be preserved. Additionally, he said farmers would have to be assisted in making sure that even the smallest plots of lands were used productively and that farmers were educated not to use chemically engineered seeds or pesticides.

Joko also emphasized the need to build better infrastructure for farmers, the need to monitor the quality of water in the fields, as well as improved monetary benefits for farmers and better access to capital and financial support.

“I asked farmers, how many tons [of rice] can be produced from one hectare [of land]? Apparently it was six tons, because farmers here are using a good mix,” Joko said during his visit on Sunday.

According to him, the average amount of rice produced on Indonesian farms was between four to five tons for each hectare of land, while the population grew by three million each year.

“Like it or not, we need to prepare more food for this growth. Additionally, in the past five years there has been a significant increase in food imports,” he said, citing hikes in the imports of several staple food items such as rice, corn, soy, flour, sugar, salt, beef, onions and fruits.

“We import fish. We are a maritime nation but our fish imports have spiked,” Joko said “These are issues that need to be sorted out. These things are the reason why inflation on certain basic commodities easily occurs for a long period of time and repeatedly.”

Joko was adamant that the issue would see major risks unfurl in the next five to 10 years should the government fail to take strict and extreme policies. “Without that, we are risking our sovereignty and food security,” he said.

As such, Joko said it was important to ensure the production sector was improved so as to limit imports.

“We have to concentrate the production. Imports have to be cut and eventually eliminated. With some effort and hard work, I think we can achieve this within four or five years,” he said.

A change of mentality

Aside from his vision for the Indonesian agricultural sector, Joko on Sunday also introduced what he called a “mental revolution,” which he cited as one of the main requirements needed to see positive changes in Indonesia in the future.

“A mental revolution, because we have to change ourselves, so that this nation can reach its potential, because we are a big nation. Let’s change our mentality from the negative to the positive,” Joko said on Sunday, emphasizing that the issue would be one of his biggest focuses if elected president and would cover areas such as education, health and agriculture.

“We cannot be stuck in negative thoughts and instead should be positive, we have to be sure that we can do this well and in the right way,” Joko said.

A member of Joko’s national secretariat team, Eva Kusuma Sundari, said that with the program, Joko would become an icon of transformative leadership bringing new values to be practiced by government.

“[Joko is] a leader who seeks to promote a mental revolution for the sake of transforming Indonesia into becoming a sovereign, independent nation, the embodiment of a 21st-century Trisakti [ideology],” Eva said in Jakarta on Sunday, referring leadership principles espoused by Sukarno.

A mental revolution, she said, was part of an effort to build a fair and prosperous society that adheres to the Pancasila state ideology. “A nation that never leaves behind nation and character building projects,” Eva explained.

She emphasized that Joko had started this mission in Jakarta, with people becoming more aware of their responsibility not to litter in the areas surrounding the Angke river in West Jakarta following the city administration’s revitalization program.

“The Indonesian culture of working together has to be developed and strengthened for it to become the base of our [development],” Eva said, adding that education played a pivotal role in ensuring the strengthening of this culture among Indonesians. “Of course people and human resources are the engine of any public transformation projects and, as such, the spirit of education has to be made the center of character-building efforts.”

PDI-P central executive board chairman Maruar Sirait said Joko was ready to build up the country by focusing on three indicators: Indonesia’s political sovereignty, economic independence and a positive image in the cultural sector.

“It is important for us to move towards a mental revolution, as explained by Joko, because our nation is yet to unite mentally, but it will. We have to be confident with our capabilities,” he said.

Despite having a vast supply of natural resources, such as marine, mineral and energy resources, Indonesia remains hampered by bigger issues such as uneven economic growth, poor law enforcement as well as other leadership and mental issues, he said.

“That is why the mental revolution explained by Joko is very relevant,” Maruar said, adding that the program would inspire optimism throughout the nation’s stakeholders.

Furthermore, Maruar also explained that Indonesia’s diversity has yet to be well understood by the public and that the concept of pluralism remained in tatters as a result of years of colonialism and imperialism by the Dutch, who at the time used divisive rule to prevent the people from uniting against them.

“The mental revolution will have to nurture a mentality of unity, Indonesians have to come together in building a better Indonesia,” he said.

“[It’s called] a mental revolution because we have to change ourselves, so that this nation would have hope. Because we are a great nation.”

Search for a running mate

Maruar also said on Sunday that the mental revolution concept also proved PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri had made the right decision by appointing Joko as the party’s candidate and that she would also elect the right running mate for Joko.

“We are sure Mega will elect the right vice presidential candidate for Joko, one who will not merely be a spare tire,” Maruar said. “Let the decision be based on dialectics and public discussions. They [the public] have proved receptive towards the PDI-P’s presidential candidate, and now we hope they will react in the same way towards the PDI-P’s [appointment of a] vice presidential candidate.”

He added the party wanted to make sure any vice president would work with the president in following through party policies and was not burdened with past misdeeds.

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