Reforming Rice Transfer Policy, Feeding the Country

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Food security is a paramount concern everywhere in Asia, particularly security over rice. Indonesia’s food security program—Raskin—was set up in 1998 to provide rice security and ensure moderate rice prices. As a highly popular program, it had its own agency and enormous political power. But multiple studies have shown that it was poorly targeted and often provided substandard food. And yet, politically, the program was immune, even as the evidence of its flaws mounted. This chapter recounts a story of how Indonesia not only devised research evidence to revolutionize this program but also engage bureaucrats to make a high-level political change.</jats:p>