{"id":41155,"date":"2026-02-11T08:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T01:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/?p=41155"},"modified":"2026-02-18T08:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T01:43:10","slug":"tanah-ketahanan-pangan-dan-keadilan-agraria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/tanah-ketahanan-pangan-dan-keadilan-agraria\/","title":{"rendered":"Land, Food Security, and Agrarian Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Food Security Program (KPN) deserves support as it represents a state policy aimed at fulfilling the people's fundamental right to food, a right guaranteed under the Constitution. The availability of land is a crucial prerequisite for the successful implementation of the KPN. If land acquisition policies and other supporting measures adhere to the principles of justice\u2014including equitable distribution, protection of vulnerable groups, and restoration of rights\u2014and sustainability\u2014including precautionary approaches, environmental carrying capacity, conservation, and natural resource protection\u2014then the success of the KPN would constitute a realization of agrarian justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, an important question remains: do the natural resource governance policies that serve as the legal foundation for the KPN genuinely reflect the principles of justice and sustainability?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implementation of the Food Estate (FE) program as a means of achieving food security has been attempted repeatedly in Indonesia. Similar initiatives were undertaken during the New Order era under President Soeharto through the One Million Hectare Peatland Project (1995). During President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono\u2019s administration, three food security initiatives were introduced, while the administration of President Joko Widodo launched three national food estate projects. These programs largely failed due to inadequate planning, land conflicts between communities and the government, limited capacity among farmers to manage the land, and significant environmental degradation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under President Prabowo Subianto\u2019s administration, the KPN has been advanced through the National Food, Energy, and Water Self-Sufficiency Program in Merauke, South Papua, designated as a National Strategic Project (PSN Merauke). Various laws and regulations underpinning the project, however, have yet to fully satisfy the principles of justice and sustainability. As a National Strategic Project, PSN Merauke enjoys extensive regulatory facilitation, ranging from land acquisition procedures to planning and operational control mechanisms. In practice, the project has generated several significant concerns, including: (1) conflicts with local communities; (2) deforestation; (3) loss of biodiversity; (4) increased climate change risks; (5) inefficient public spending; and (6) environmental sustainability studies being conducted only after project implementation had already begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the protection of Indigenous Peoples (Masyarakat Hukum Adat\/MHA) affected by the project has not received adequate attention. Legislation specifically governing Indigenous Peoples has yet to be enacted, while legal recognition of Indigenous communities and their rights remains uncertain. This includes unresolved issues concerning the legal identification of Indigenous groups and their customary territories, as well as the incomplete administration of customary land rights and the limited issuance of formal recognitions of customary forests in affected areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such policies contribute to structural injustice, which in turn generates structural conflicts arising from competing interests, conflicting values, and unequal capacities and opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When structural conflict is accompanied by structural violence, whether latent or manifest, it may lead to violations of human rights, including the rights to basic necessities, a healthy environment, and development\u2014namely the rights to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from development processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than addressing these challenges, the state often appears to perpetuate unjust and unsustainable natural resource governance by facilitating greater access to resources and benefits for investors and politically connected business elites. Meanwhile, vulnerable groups receive comparatively limited protection and attention. The Agrarian Reform Programhas largely stagnated and now faces the risk of deviating from its original objectives, particularly as the government appears to prioritize land redistribution mechanisms associated with the Land Bank model, as indicated in the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning's letter dated 13 January 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These unjust and unsustainable policies are further aggravated by misconceptions surrounding the doctrine of the State\u2019s Right to Control (Hak Menguasai Negara\/HMN). Rather than acting as a trustee on behalf of the people, the state frequently exceeds the limits of its constitutional authority. The HMN doctrine is not unlimited. First, state policies must not violate constitutional principles. Second, their substance must genuinely promote the greatest possible prosperity and benefit for the people. In practice, however, the government often acts as though it were the owner of natural resources, while citizens are treated merely as users. This ownership-oriented approach concentrates policymaking power in the hands of government institutions while diminishing meaningful public participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Langkah ke depan
The Way Forward\nDrawing lessons from previous Food Estate initiatives and the early implementation of the Merauke National Strategic Project, several measures should be prioritized:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Land acquisition processes must respect communities\u2019 rights to their living spaces, including their rights to basic needs, a healthy environment, and development.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Legal provisions governing compensation for Indigenous customary land should be strengthened, particularly regarding compensation mechanisms and valuation standards. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. The administration of customary land rights and the issuance of customary forest recognition decrees should be accelerated in areas designated for future National Strategic Projects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The enactment of legislation concerning Indigenous Peoples should become a national priority.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Stricter criteria should be established for changes in forest designation, forest functions, and forest utilization.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Comprehensive environmental assessments must be completed before projects commence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. The application of Social Impact Assessments (SIA) should be considered during the land acquisition planning stage to mitigate socio-economic impacts on affected communities and ensure the sustainability of their livelihoods.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Farmers\u2019 rights should be strengthened through enhanced empowerment programs and stronger legal protections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Alternative strategies for achieving national food security beyond the Food Estate model should be explored, supported by rigorous and accountable research.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Agrarian Reform through the redistribution of Agrarian Reform Objects (TORA) must be accelerated and strengthened, rather than weakened through land redistribution schemes modeled on the Land Bank approach, as reflected in the Ministry\u2019s letter of 13 January 2026.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If policies supporting the National Food Security Program are grounded in the principles of justice and sustainability, agrarian justice can be realized. Agrarian justice exists when every individual and community has fair access to and equitable benefits from natural resources, based on human rights principles, while ensuring social and ecological sustainability and avoiding harm to others.\nSuch agrarian justice encompasses gender justice, intergenerational justice, ecological justice, and spatial justice. Ultimately, agrarian justice forms an integral component of the broader ideal of social justice enshrined in the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Yogyakarta, 11 February 2026\nProf. Dr. Maria S.W. Sumardjono, S.H., M.C.L., M.P.A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Program Ketahanan Pangan Nasional (KPN) itu perlu didukung karena merupakan perwujudan kebijakan Negara untuk memenuhi kebutuhan dasar rakyat atas terpenuhinya pangan yang dijamin oleh Konstitusi. Ketersediaan tanah merupakan hal yang krusial untuk mewujudkan program KPN. Jika kebijakan perolehan tanah dan kebijakan lain yang mendukung KPN memenuhi prinsip keadilan (distribusi dan pemerataan, perlindungan kelompok rentan dan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":41157,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,218],"tags":[307,406,240,241,257,232,306,235,229,228,266,231,220],"class_list":["post-41155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berita","category-berita-sdgs","tag-departemen-hukum-agraria","tag-dies-natalis-ke-80-fh-ugm","tag-fakultas-hukum-ugm","tag-law-ugm","tag-sdg-1-tanpa-kemiskinan","tag-sdg-10-berkurangnya-kesenjangan","tag-sdg-12-konsumsi-dan-produksi-yang-bertanggung-jawab","tag-sdg-13-penanganan-perubahan-iklim","tag-sdg-15-ekosistem-daratan","tag-sdg-16-perdamaian-keadilan-dan-kelembagaan-yang-tangguh","tag-sdg-2-tanpa-kelaparan","tag-sdg-5-kesetaraan-gender","tag-sdgs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41155"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41159,"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41155\/revisions\/41159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.ugm.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}