Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said Wednesday that more countries across the globe were imposing protectionist measures on food to safeguard their local supplies. 

The protracted war in the major grain producer Ukraine, coupled with the Yemen and Gaza conflicts, have triggered food inflation. 

“Back then, many countries offered to [export their food] to us [Indonesia]. Almost all rice-producing countries offered their rice to us,” Jokowi said. 

“And now we are seeking rice in producing countries. That is not something easy to do because everyone is putting brakes on their food exports, be it wheat or rice, due to climate change and disrupted supply chain,” Jokowi said. 

Jokowi claimed that countries across the globe had imposed thousands of trade protectionist measures. Such measures typically include export bans. 

“Countries have imposed 1,348 protectionist policies, especially on food. This marks a threefold or about 300-percent increase compared to 2014 figures. And these [protectionist policies] will continue to rise,” Jokowi said. 

The National Food Agency (Bapanas) announced earlier this month Indonesia’s plans to import 2 million tons of rice from fellow ASEAN country Thailand amidst skyrocketing prices of the staple food. However, Indonesia will only proceed with the imports if it cannot produce enough rice for its domestic demand. 

Last year, Indonesia imported 3.06 million tons of rice, marking a whopping 613.61 percent increase versus 2022 figures, the National Statistics Agency (BPS) reported. About 45.12 percent of the rice that Indonesia imported in 2023 came from Thailand.