Indonesia's Free Meal Program Shifts Focus From Quantity to Quality

Indonesia's National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is shifting its Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program's focus from expanding beneficiary numbers to enhancing service quality and more effective nutritional interventions. The agency will no longer prioritize reaching the government's earlier target of 82 million beneficiaries this year, despite the program being a flagship initiative of President Prabowo Subianto.

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Yesterday, the three of us met with the President and conveyed that in 2025, we hope he will not focus on quantity. We want to improve the quality of the program.

BGN Head Nanik Sudaryati Deyang informed President Prabowo of the intention to emphasize quality over quantity for the program in 2025. The policy shift is part of broader efforts to strengthen governance and improve budget efficiency. Consequently, the program's success will no longer be measured primarily by the number of recipients.

"We may no longer pursue the 82 million target. Instead, we want to focus on delivering nutritious meals and ensuring healthy kitchen operations," Nanik stated. The agency also plans to refine beneficiary targeting to ensure resources reach those most in need. This includes potentially reducing coverage in affluent schools and reallocating funds to underserved areas, particularly Indonesia's 3T (disadvantaged, remote, and frontier) regions.

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We may no longer pursue the 82 million target. Instead, we want to focus on delivering nutritious meals and ensuring healthy kitchen operations.

The new approach aims to concentrate resources on groups at the greatest risk of malnutrition. Priority recipients include residents in 3T regions and the 3B group: pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers. This focus is based on consultations with pediatric health and nutrition experts, targeting the period from the first month of pregnancy through primary school.

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If there are expensive schools, we need to evaluate whether the MBG program is still necessary there. We would rather direct support to disadvantaged, remote, and frontier regions.