Scope

Covers all major animal exploitation industries operating at meaningful scale in Indonesia: cattle (beef and dairy), buffalo, goats and sheep, pigs, poultry (commercial broilers, layers, and village chickens), aquaculture (tilapia, catfish, shrimp, milkfish, and other species), marine and inland capture fisheries, and live cattle imports for feedlot finishing. Wildlife trade and use — legal and illegal, involving birds, reptiles, and other species — operates as a documented system and is included at the level of framework and documented investigations. Fur farming, industrial-scale veal systems, and large-scale commercial horse meat production are absent or negligible in national statistics. Excludes purely household pet-keeping, conservation-focused wildlife management, and non-animal food sectors.

System Overview

Indonesia is the largest contributor to marine capture and freshwater aquaculture production in Southeast Asia, producing approximately 7.4 million tonnes from marine capture and approximately 3.71 million tonnes from freshwater aquaculture in 2023 — approximately 39% of regional marine capture production (SEAFDEC). Terrestrial livestock production is dominated by poultry, with broiler and layer populations in the low billions and cattle, buffalo, goats, sheep, and pigs each in the low- to mid-million head range. Indonesia functions simultaneously as a producer, exporter of fishery and aquaculture products and some poultry, and a significant importer of live cattle — 359,305 head from Australia in 2023, representing 54% of Australia’s sea-borne cattle exports and making Indonesia Australia’s primary live cattle export destination (MLA). Per-capita meat consumption remains below global averages across all major species.

Key Systems

Beef and dairy cattle. Cattle are kept in smallholder mixed crop-livestock systems and in commercial feedlots for finishing imported feeder cattle from Australia. Production models include extensive grazing, cut-and-carry feeding systems, and intensive feedlots concentrated near urban demand centres and ports. Beef cattle supply domestic meat markets; dairy cattle concentrated in Java supply the domestic dairy processing industry.

Live cattle imports and feedlot finishing. Live feeder cattle imported by sea from northern Australia are finished in Indonesian feedlots under feeder-import schemes. These feedlots are intensive, using imported feed, and are located near ports and major urban consumption centres. Indonesia is the primary destination for Australian live cattle sea exports.

Poultry — broilers, layers, and village chickens. Commercial broiler and layer production operates through intensive high-density housing, contract farming, and vertically integrated integrators supplied by imported grandparent and parent stock. Village and backyard flocks operate alongside commercial systems. Broilers supply most terrestrial meat; layers supply eggs for domestic consumption.

Buffalo. Buffalo are kept in smallholder and mixed crop-livestock systems, contributing to draught power for agriculture and supplying meat for domestic markets and religious slaughter events. Buffalo are concentrated in Sulawesi and other outer islands.

Small ruminants — goats and sheep. Goats and sheep are primarily in smallholder and semi-intensive systems using grazing and cut-and-carry feeding, supplying meat for local markets and large-scale religious slaughter events including Eid al-Adha.

Pigs. Pigs are raised mainly in areas with non-Muslim populations in small to medium commercial units and some backyard systems, supplying domestic pork markets with a limited export role.

Aquaculture. Intensive and semi-intensive freshwater pond, cage, and brackishwater systems produce tilapia and catfish (freshwater) and shrimp and milkfish (brackish and coastal). Indonesia is the leading regional producer by aquaculture volume.

Marine capture fisheries. Industrial and small-scale artisanal fleets operate across Indonesia’s extensive maritime zones, targeting pelagic and demersal species. Indonesia contributed approximately 39% of regional marine capture production in 2023.

Wildlife trade and use. Legal and illegal commercial trade in wild-caught birds, reptiles, and other species for pets, food, and traditional uses operates through markets and traders, with some reptile and bird farming operations present. The system is structured around markets rather than industrial farms.

Scale & Intensity

Marine capture fisheries: approximately 7.4 million tonnes in 2023, plus 472,086 tonnes from inland capture (SEAFDEC). Freshwater aquaculture: approximately 3.71 million tonnes in 2023 (SEAFDEC). Poultry: industry forecasts indicate approximately 3.3–3.4 billion broilers in 2024–2025, growing approximately 2–3% annually; several hundred million layers. Live cattle imports: 359,305 head from Australia in 2023, a 6% year-on-year increase. Terrestrial livestock populations from FAOSTAT are available in aggregate but not consistently disaggregated by system type in accessible sources; cattle are in the order of several tens of millions of head; buffalo, goats, sheep, and pigs each in the low- to mid-millions. A peer-reviewed GHG study (2018, using 2015 data) documents beef cattle as contributing 66.99% of livestock-sector GHG emissions, followed by goats (8.38%), sheep (7.40%), buffalo (6.89%), swine (5.03%), broiler chickens (3.80%), and horses (0.72%), indicating ruminant dominance of livestock-sector emissions. Poultry production is expanding; beef production growth is slow and relies structurally on live imports; fisheries and aquaculture production has remained at high levels with sustained regional growth.

Infrastructure & Supply Chains

National law requires each regency and city to operate a Rumah Potong Hewan (RPH — slaughterhouse) meeting Ministry of Agriculture technical standards; dedicated poultry slaughterhouses and fish processing facilities operate separately. Comprehensive national facility counts are not consistently published; academic assessments document implementation gaps and variable compliance with RPH infrastructure and operational standards at local level. Live cattle arrive by sea from northern Australia to Indonesian ports, then move by road to feedlots and slaughterhouses. Cold-chain infrastructure concentrated in urban areas and export hubs supports poultry meat, beef, and fishery product distribution. Fish-processing plants and export terminals are key nodes for aquaculture and marine capture supply chains. The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) and fisheries industry associations coordinate processing companies handling export-standard fish and shrimp products.

Regulation & Enforcement

The primary legislative framework governing animal exploitation comprises Law No. 18 of 2009 on Animal Husbandry and Animal Health, as amended by Law No. 41 of 2014, which regulates animal husbandry, animal health, slaughterhouse requirements, and animal product safety, and includes criminal sanctions for deliberate acts of animal cruelty; Law No. 21 of 2019 on Animal, Fish and Plant Quarantine, with Government Regulation No. 29 of 2023 governing implementation; and Government Regulation No. 4 of 2016 on Importation of Livestock and/or Animal Products in Certain Cases. Enforcement responsibility is divided between the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementerian Pertanian) for livestock, animal health, and slaughterhouse regulation; the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) for capture fisheries and aquaculture; and local governments for operating and supervising RPHs and enforcing local husbandry and slaughter regulations. Legal commentary identifies limited prosecutions under Law No. 41/2014 cruelty provisions, noting that enforcement depends on proving intent and harm. Quarantine and import regulations govern live animal and animal product movements, with active ministerial decrees managing disease events: Decree No. 518/2022 established compensation and assistance in the foot-and-mouth disease emergency, and Decree No. 510/2022 governed FMD vaccination programmes.

Public Funding & Subsidies

In 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture allocated more than IDR 25 trillion (approximately USD 1.67 billion) for fertilizer subsidies distributed to approximately 16 million farmers under national food security programmes, indirectly supporting livestock feed crop production. Livestock-specific public funding includes disease emergency compensation under ministerial decrees during FMD and other outbreak events. Government policies support livestock and aquaculture value chain development through infrastructure, extension services, and investment promotion; specific annual subsidy figures disaggregated by animal product sector are not consistently published in the sources consulted.

Labour Conditions

Livestock, poultry, and fisheries sectors rely heavily on rural labour including smallholder family labour and hired workers; capture fisheries involve predominantly small-scale fishers and crew. Slaughterhouses, feedlots, and aquaculture processing employ a mix of permanent and temporary workers in work environments characterised by physically demanding tasks and hazard exposure consistent with meatpacking and fish processing sectors globally. Indonesia-specific occupational injury rates, workforce demographic breakdowns, and union density for slaughter, processing, and aquaculture operations are not systematically consolidated in the sources consulted. Documentation of migrant labour use within these sectors is limited in accessible sources.

Environmental Impact

A 2018 peer-reviewed study of Indonesian livestock GHG emissions (using 2015 national data) found beef cattle contributing 66.99% of livestock-sector emissions, followed by goats at 8.38%, sheep at 7.40%, buffalo at 6.89%, swine at 5.03%, broiler chickens at 3.80%, and horses at 0.72% — a distribution reflecting Indonesia’s relatively high ruminant share relative to some global patterns where pig and poultry emissions are more prominent. Livestock manure and waste contribute to local water and soil pollution and GHG emissions. Aquaculture uses freshwater and coastal areas; intensive systems generate nutrient loading and effluents, with national-level quantified figures by system type not available from the sources consulted. Indonesia’s high share of regional marine capture production — approximately 39% — implies significant fishing pressure on regional marine ecosystems. Livestock production uses pasture and mixed crop-livestock land; national-level land-use and water-use figures disaggregated by species and system type are not consistently available.

Investigations & Exposure

A 2025 peer-reviewed article citing Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (2021) data identifies Indonesia as one of the countries with the highest volume of animal cruelty content uploaded to social media, documenting the visibility of animal abuse incidents in the country’s documented exploitation systems.

Legal scholarship has examined enforcement of Law No. 41/2014 cruelty provisions, identifying challenges in applying criminal sanctions and limited actual prosecutions, indicating a structural gap between legislative framework and enforcement outcomes.

No systematic facility-level undercover investigations of Indonesian intensive livestock farms, poultry operations, or aquaculture facilities have been identified in the institutional sources consulted.

Industry Dynamics

Poultry is the fastest-growing terrestrial livestock sector, with broiler and layer populations forecast to grow approximately 2–3% annually to 2029; periods of surplus broiler meat occur in weak-demand cycles. Beef production growth is constrained domestically, with continued and increasing structural reliance on live cattle imports from Australia as the supply mechanism for feedlot finishing. Fisheries and aquaculture maintain Indonesia’s position as the regional leader by volume, with sustained output levels. Wildlife trade continues to operate across legal and illegal channels with limited enforcement documentation.

Within The System

Developments

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Editorial Correction Notice

Scale and intensity — terrestrial livestock figures: National livestock population figures for cattle, buffalo, goats, sheep, and pigs are available in FAOSTAT aggregates but are not consistently disaggregated by system type (intensive vs extensive) or breed in accessible sources. Population figures cited as orders of magnitude reflect available data precision. FAOSTAT and SEAFDEC series may lag by 1–3 years; more recent national statistics from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) would be required for current verified figures.

Scale and intensity — GHG species breakdown: The livestock-sector GHG emission shares by species (beef cattle 66.99%, goats 8.38%, etc.) derive from a single 2018 peer-reviewed study using 2015 data. These figures are specific to that methodology and year and should not be treated as current inventory values; Indonesia’s national GHG inventory submissions to UNFCCC would be required for verified current livestock emission shares.

Primary animals — aquatic species: Tilapia, Catfish, Prawns (shrimp), and Milkfish are assigned based on explicit naming in the research as the primary farmed species in Indonesian aquaculture. Per the universal linking convention, relationship fields are populated regardless of whether target CPT records currently exist; shell records are created on demand. “Catfish” in the Indonesian context typically refers to *Clarias* species (lele) or *Pangasius*; the specific genus is not named in the research. The Catfish CPT record assignment should be reviewed against the species-level entry when confirmed.

Primary animals — marine capture species: No specific marine capture species are named in the research output for Indonesian fisheries beyond the aggregate category of pelagic and demersal species. Marine capture species have not been assigned to primary_animals. KKP fisheries statistical yearbook data would be required to identify structurally significant capture species for assignment.

Primary animals — Buffalo: Buffalo are assigned based on explicit documentation of their dual role in draught power and meat supply, confirmed by their presence in the national GHG livestock inventory (6.89% of livestock-sector emissions).

Key industries — Draught & Transport: Assigned for buffalo draught use in mixed crop-livestock systems, explicitly documented in the research. Horses are present in GHG data (0.72% of livestock-sector emissions) but are characterised in the scope as negligible for commercial production; horses have not been assigned to primary_animals and Working Animal Systems terms beyond Draught & Transport for buffalo have not been assigned.

Primary practices — Caging: Layer production is described as using intensive high-density housing; no explicit cage naming is present in the research. Caging has not been assigned. Ministry of Agriculture layer housing census data would be required to confirm cage system use before assignment.

Primary practices — Fleece Harvesting: Not assigned. The research describes the sheep system as supplying meat for local markets and religious slaughter; no wool production is documented. No ECN entry required beyond this note.

Labour conditions: Indonesia-specific occupational injury rates, migrant labour shares, and union density for slaughterhouses, feedlots, poultry operations, and aquaculture processing are not systematically documented in the sources consulted.

Infrastructure — RPH facility counts: Comprehensive national statistics on the number, capacity, and compliance status of RPHs are not consolidated in accessible sources; the legal framework specifies standards but does not yield an exhaustive verified facility list from the sources consulted. Ministry of Agriculture facility registry data would be required for verified counts.

Primary animals — Horses: Horses appear in the 2018 GHG livestock-sector study at 0.72% of livestock-sector emissions. The research scope characterises large commercial horse meat production as negligible or not documented in national statistics, and no purposeful working, draught, or production role for horses is described in any section. Horses have not been assigned to primary_animals on the basis that their presence in GHG data reflects incidental population rather than a structurally managed exploitation system. BPS national livestock census data would be required to assess whether horses are managed at meaningful scale for any documented purpose before this decision is reassessed.

Primary Animals: A record for Milkfish is needed to link this record to.