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Food is a basic human need. So basic that nations have gone to war over food security in the past, and in all likelihood will again in the future. Ensuring that a nation has enough food to feed its people is thus both a moral and a security issue.

As the food crisis three years ago illustrated, rising food prices can wreak havoc on a country’s economy. Rapid population growth and growing affluence in emerging countries such as Indonesia are putting added pressure on the global food supply.

On the other side of the coin, climate change and the conversion of agricultural land for biofuels and other purposes are shrinking the availability of arable land. Food supply shortages coupled with rising demand will lead to more food crises in the future.

Given the global scenario, Indonesia must take full advantage of the situation by shoring up the food supply for its citizens, while at the same time becoming a food supplier to the rest of Asia and beyond. The country has all the necessary attributes — climate, plentiful rainfall, arable land and the necessary manpower — to become a major global food supplier.

This will not happen automatically, however. It will take vision, the right policy environment and modern management to realize this opportunity. The two biggest challenges facing the government are land resources and the necessary policies to attract private investment into the sector.

Potentially, the government can set aside 12 million hectares for large-scale food cultivation. This utilization of land, which would otherwise be left unproductive, would be a tremendous resource that could boost economic growth and create wealth. It could lead to the development of food processing and service industries that would create millions of jobs across the country.

The 1.5 million hectares of land the government has set aside for food production in Merauke, Papua, is a good start. This is exciting news and all that is needed now is for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to sign off on the project.

He must also take the lead in formulating the required policies to make this a basis for the creation of a new industry. The government needs to allocate enough resources to the project and ensure it is properly executed. One definite goal must be to plan for and allow mechanized rice cultivation outside of Java in order to increase production.

For city dwellers in Jakarta and other major urban centers, the benefit of creating large food estates will be lower food prices, but not at the expense of farmers, as is currently the case. Unless we can expand our agricultural land, especially beyond Java, the country will face the specter of rising food prices over time as population growth outstrips supply.

If all goes well with this new venture it will be a wonderful thing for the nation.