Government Optimistic the Free Nutritional Meal Program Will Reach Its Target of 82.9 Million Beneficiaries by the End of 2025
Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan emphasized that the government is optimistic that the Free Nutritional Meal Program (MBG) will reach its target of 82.9 million beneficiaries by the end of 2025.
“God willing, this is starting to look perfect, and 82.9 million is non-negotiable; everything will be achieved,” said Zulhas at the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs office in Central Jakarta.
This confidence was expressed after a meeting to finalize regulations for the implementation of the MBG program with the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs, and the Ministry of State Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia.
The meeting discussed the refinement of derivative regulations from the Presidential Decree (Kepres), which will serve as the basis for the technical implementation of the MBG program throughout Indonesia.
The Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, stated that his agency is ready to accelerate implementation in the field to achieve the target ahead of schedule.
“We will achieve 82.9 million by the end of this year,” Dadan said after a meeting at the Coordinating Ministry for Food and Agriculture Office.
Dadan explained that this acceleration was made possible by increasing the number of Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG), which function as production kitchens for nutritious food for the community.
To date, BGN has 13,347 active SPPGs and is able to approve 200 new SPPGs daily.
“We wanted to finish this year. So now we have 13,347 SPPGs, and we can approve 200 SPPGs daily,” he said.
In addition to accelerating the verification of existing MBG kitchens, BGN also plans to build more facilities in remote areas to ensure equitable distribution of program benefits throughout Indonesia.
“We also want to establish 5,000 to 6,000 remote SPPGs. So, we remain optimistic about reaching 82.9 million by the end of this year,” said Dadan.
The government’s optimism in achieving the MBG target has also received support from various ministries.
The Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) is one of the institutions playing a key role in strengthening MBG governance and institutions.
Minister of PANRB Rini emphasized that cross-agency collaboration is key to the success of this national program.
“The Ministry of PANRB continues to support the success of the target of 82 million beneficiaries. Therefore, it is necessary to follow up with the restructuring and strengthening of the National Nutrition Agency’s Technical Implementation Unit (UPT) which carries out operational activities for the provision and distribution of nutritious food,” she said.
Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi added that the government will soon issue a Presidential Regulation (Perpres) on the governance of the MBG program as the legal basis for implementation on the ground.
“We ask for a little more time so that the Presidential Regulation on the governance of the Free Nutritious Meals program is truly ready for implementation. The goal is to ensure more organized implementation on the ground,” he said.***
