Jakarta. The research firm Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) recently said that Indonesia’s goal of becoming the world’s food barn by 2045 could be too challenging to achieve.

Indef’s deputy director Eko Listyanto said that Indonesia was not the only one who had that dream, while fellow ASEAN members Thailand and Vietnam’s efforts had already bore some fruit.

“Vietnam is one of our rice barns. We import [rice] from [Vietnam] every year, and that shows how our country relies on [import],” Eko said Wednesday.

According to Eko, the government might be too ambitious if it wants to be the global food barn for all commodities. Indonesia, however, might still have a chance for crude palm oil (CPO), although this calls for the government to push for the production of more value-added goods. Indonesia is the world’s largest CPO producer.

“Hopefully, [Indonesia] does not only [export the primary products. But we also need to develop the derivative products out of our CPO,” Eko said.

Eko is urging the government to reduce its import on food commodities which tend to be on the rise every year. At least for the next 20 years, the country should focus on securing enough production of rice, sugar, soybeans, and garlic, among others, to meet the domestic supply. Eko added: “I think that’s already an incredible achievement, although there is nothing wrong about being the global food barn.” 

The government must look at institutional capacity and budget capabilities in order to achieve the vision of becoming the world's food barn. If necessary, the government should come up with a road map so that the country is truly not dependent on imports in the next 20 years, according to Eko.