The findings arrive at a critical moment for Indonesia, where competing demands for economic growth and land development continue to reshape rural landscapes. According to the study, agricultural land conversion is no longer an isolated planning issue but part of a broader governance challenge with implications for food supply, farmer livelihoods, and long-term sustainable development.
Across many regions, productive rice fields have increasingly been converted into residential areas, industrial zones, tourism developments, and transportation infrastructure. While development contributes to economic expansion, the study argues that insufficient safeguards for sustainable agricultural land are creating long-term risks.
Indonesia already has legal protection through Law Number 41 of 2009 concerning Sustainable Food Agricultural Land Protection. However, Mohammad Roesli’s analysis indicates that implementation has struggled due to weak supervision, inconsistent spatial planning, limited institutional coordination, and stronger incentives for investment-driven development.
The research suggests that regulations alone have not been enough to preserve agricultural land when local development priorities favor short-term economic returns.
Why Agricultural Land Protection Matters
The issue extends beyond land ownership and zoning.
Agricultural land functions as the foundation of Indonesia’s domestic food system and remains closely linked to environmental balance and rural welfare. The study highlights national agricultural trends showing pressure on productive land availability.
As agricultural land shrinks, food production capacity becomes more vulnerable. Reduced cultivation areas may also increase dependency on external food sources and weaken resilience against future supply disruptions.
The study positions land conversion as a structural agrarian issue rather than a simple consequence of modernization.
In regions experiencing rapid urbanization, land values often rise faster than agricultural income. That economic imbalance encourages landowners and farming families to sell productive land, gradually transforming agricultural communities.
How the Study Was Conducted
Mohammad Roesli used a qualitative socio-legal approach combined with normative legal analysis.
The study reviewed agrarian regulations, spatial planning policies, and sustainable agricultural land protection frameworks while also examining how those policies operate in practice.
Evidence was gathered through:
- literature and policy document reviews;
- field observations;
- in-depth interviews;
- institutional documentation.
The research involved 15 informants, including academics, local government officials, land practitioners, and farmers from areas experiencing strong land conversion pressure.
Interview findings and policy materials were analyzed through qualitative interpretation and thematic analysis to identify recurring governance patterns and policy gaps.
Key Findings: Fragmented Governance Is Driving Land Conversion
The research identified several recurring patterns.
1. Economic development still dominates land protection priorities
Eleven out of fifteen informants stated that regional development continues to prioritize investment and growth over preserving sustainable agricultural land.
Productive farmland frequently becomes the first area targeted for residential and commercial expansion.
2. Agrarian and spatial policies remain poorly synchronized
The study found that Sustainable Food Agricultural Land Protection (LP2B) policies are not consistently integrated into regional spatial planning systems.
As a result, agricultural protection measures often operate separately from investment and development policies.
3. Supervision and enforcement remain weak
Twelve informants identified weak monitoring systems as a major reason land conversion continues.
Land oversight is still largely administrative and lacks integrated digital monitoring capable of identifying land-use changes quickly and consistently.
Law enforcement also appears limited, with violations frequently ending in administrative warnings rather than stronger sanctions.
4. Farmers face economic pressure to leave agriculture
Economic realities emerged as a major driver of land conversion.
Interview participants reported that land prices frequently exceed the economic value of agricultural production. At the same time, production costs continue to increase, making farming less attractive for younger generations.
The study warns that this pattern could gradually reduce domestic food production capacity.
A New Agrarian Policy Model
Rather than recommending stricter prohibitions alone, Mohammad Roesli proposes a broader reconstruction of Indonesia’s agrarian policy framework.
The proposed model integrates five connected elements:
- regulatory harmonization;
- stronger spatial planning;
- digital land monitoring;
- farmer economic protection;
- community participation.
According to the study, effective land protection requires moving from a reactive approach—responding after conversion occurs—to a preventive and participatory governance model.
Roesli of Universitas Merdeka Surabaya argues that agricultural land protection must combine legal certainty with economic incentives and technology-supported oversight. In this framework, sustainable land governance depends not only on restricting conversion but also on creating conditions that make farming economically viable.
The recommendations include spatial-data monitoring systems, tighter synchronization between national and regional policies, stronger permit controls, production subsidies, crop price support, and incentives for landowners who maintain agricultural use.
Implications for Policy and Society
The findings carry implications for multiple sectors.
For policymakers, the study provides a framework for improving coordination between agrarian regulation and regional development planning.
For agriculture and business sectors, stronger land governance may help secure long-term food supply stability.
For communities, the proposed reforms seek to protect farmer welfare while preserving agricultural ecosystems.
More broadly, the study reframes agricultural land as more than an economic asset. It presents land as a strategic resource connected to food security, environmental justice, and social sustainability.
Author Profile
Mohammad Roesli is an academic and researcher at Universitas Merdeka Surabaya, Indonesia. His work focuses on agrarian law, public policy, land governance, spatial planning, and sustainable development. Through this study, he advances an integrated governance approach that combines legal, institutional, economic, and technological perspectives in agricultural land protection.
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