Mapping Food Security in Indonesia: Geographic Clusters and Regional Disparities

Food security has become a global issue, and represents the first of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is zero hunger. Many countries, including Indonesia, have set food security as the central policy on their development agenda. There has been some research into food security issues, but primarily this has no spatial context. This research identifies spatial clusters—high-high, low-low, high-low, and low-high—across four food security measures: the Food Security and Vulnerability Atlas, the Dietary Diversity Score, the Food Variety Score, and the Calorie Intake. It explores 514 districts in Indonesia for 2019 using Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA, Global Moran’s I) and Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA). The data for measuring food security come from SUSENAS (the National Socio-Economic Survey), Statistics of Indonesia and the National Food Agency. The research reveals the presence of regional food security in Indonesia. Eastern Indonesia faces challenges from food insecurity issues. The LISA result shows that there are low-low clusters in eastern Indonesia because of geographical isolation, poor economic performance, and a lack of infrastructure. Conversely, high clusters in western Indonesia, especially in Java Island, benefit from favorable agricultural conditions, a robust infrastructure, and diverse food markets. High-low clusters highlight that there are urban centers with better food access amidst less secure areas, while low-high clusters face economic and logistical challenges despite being near food-secure regions. This local analysis offers nuanced insights beyond the results of a standard ESDA, emphasizing the need for tailored policies to address regional disparities. Future research should explore the determinants of food security using spatial and non-spatial econometric approaches and should apply convergence analysis to identify the factors driving prosperous regions, providing benchmarks for enhancing food security across all districts.