The Dynamics of Involvement of The Indonesian National Army in Food Estate Policy for National Food Security

Abstract

President Jokowi's directive for the TNI to help agriculture, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia has become leading the national food barn sector, and Prabowo Subianto leading a 178-hectare food estate in Kapuas Regency, Central Kalimantan raises various questions that become a dynamic discourse, especially regarding soldiers who were ordered to cultivate crops. TNI involvement in planting paddy, corn, and sugarcane, while there are still areas experiencing conflict as is still happening in Papua today. Based on this, it is known that there are parts that have not been thoroughly explored related to the dynamics that occur in the process of implementing national food safety policies. This study seeks to examine the dynamics of TNI involvement in food estate policies related to national food security. Examining the relationship between securitization, national food security, and the involvement of the TNI in food security as well as people's security to protect all people's lives from critical food threats, without hindering human development in the long term. This research was conducted qualitatively with the data sources in the case study coming from observations, interviews, documentation, and visual materials. In determining the informants, selected purposively to get in-depth information from one informant and scroll to other informants. Meanwhile, researchers conducted literature studies and web searches to collect supporting data and evaluated using data reduction methods. Research shows that the TNI needs to be involved in food estate, the military helps the people, and engages in agricultural activities. TNI involvement is based on the MoU between the TNI and the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) which aims to achieve people's welfare, sufficiency, independence, food security, and strategic logistics reserves. As for what needs to be watched out for regarding the involvement of the TNI in policy Food Estate is all about worry line of command and coordination of soldiers shifting to the private sector. The unification of elite economic, political, private, and military actors in the Food estate project gave rise to state capitalism. The TNI needs to ensure and guarantee that there are no practical political elements, following the TNI Doctrine. TNI involvement in food estate must be clean of practical political agendas and carried out solely in the interest of the people.