Indonesia Confident Food Supply Remains Strong Amid Extreme El Nino

September 17, 2026 | 01:10 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s food supply, particularly rice, remains secure despite global food and energy crisis and extreme El Niño conditions, according to National Food Agency (Bapanas) head Andi Amran Sulaiman.

Amran, who is also the agriculture minister, said the country’s rice stocks remained sufficient to meet domestic demand despite global disruptions affecting food and energy supplies.

“Alhamdulillah, our food supply is secure, particularly rice, amid global turmoil, the food crisis, the energy crisis and the water crisis occurring in parts of the world,” Amran said in Jakarta on Thursday.

He said El Niño was among the major challenges facing the agricultural sector because of its impact on food production. However, he said national rice stocks remained sufficient to meet public needs.

“There is even an extremely severe El Niño, which the BMKG (Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency) says is the most severe. (Yet) our rice stocks remain secure,” he said.

Amran said government rice reserves stood at 4.6 million tons in Perum Bulog warehouses and remained sufficient to help meet demand during the dry season and amid the effects of El Niño through various government programs.

As of mid-September 2026, more than 2 million tons of government rice reserves had been distributed, according to Bapanas.

The figure included 221,050 tons distributed under the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program in January and February, followed by 794,000 tons distributed from March to September.

The first phase of the government’s food assistance program, running from February to March, accounted for another 662,860 tons. The second phase, which began in July and runs through September 2026, had reached 584,000 tons as of the report.

Under the program, beneficiaries receive 10 kilograms of free rice per month.

Amran also said 13,100 tons of rice had been distributed for disaster relief and emergencies, while another 58,900 tons had been allocated to other budget categories.

Compared with September 2025, government rice stocks at Bulog had increased by 18 percent, from 3.9 million tons to 4.6 million tons, he said.

Bapanas also cited Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data showing that rice price inflation had eased through August 2026, both annually and monthly.

Annual rice inflation stood at 2.77 percent in August, down from 3.10 percent the previous month. Monthly rice inflation also fell to 0.42 percent from 0.49 percent in July.

Bapanas said monthly rice inflation had remained below 1 percent throughout 2026.

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