Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto boasted on Friday that Indonesia had enough food supplies to withstand the potentially historic El Niño amidst forest fires scorching parts of its soil.

In a televised state address, Prabowo remains upbeat that Indonesians will not go hungry in the face of El Niño.

“We are in the safe zone in terms of food supplies. We should be able to withstand challenges, including the worst El Niño,” Prabowo told a hall full of lawmakers and cabinet members.

Prabowo went on to say that the government has removed 145 regulatory barriers related to fertilizer distribution. The move enabled a 20% cut to fertilizer prices “for the first time in the country’s history”. Despite the trimmed price, state-run fertilizer maker Pupuk Indonesia’s net profit skyrocketed 252.8% year-on-year (yoy) in the first half of 2026.

Prabowo, who will soon wrap up its second year in office, claimed food self-sufficiency in rice, corn, poultry meat, chicken eggs, among others. The archipelagic nation aims to be self-reliant in beef and buffalo in the coming years.

The El Niño -- which will lead to warmer-than-average temperatures -- has sparked wildfires that burned over 107,000 hectares of land and caused smog in neighboring nations. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahd Nabyl A Mulachela recently told the press that Jakarta had not received formal haze-related complaints from close neighbors Singapore and Malaysia despite school closures. 

Senior economist Bhima Yudhistira earlier named El Niño as something that Prabowo must not miss out on in his speech, citing its detrimental impact on food security. He also urged the government to earmark greater budget allocations and mitigation efforts for El Niño.

Prabowo’s speech is ongoing as of writing. 

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