JakartaThe Free Nutritious Meal Program is ready to begin at 190 locations spread across 26 provinces. This was carried out by the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who have not yet completed 100 days in office.
“We are grateful, without waiting for 100 days or exactly the 78th day of Mr. Prabowo becoming President, the MBG program has started.” “This is a historic milestone for the Indonesian nation, as for the first time Indonesia is implementing a national-scale nutrition fulfillment program for toddlers, school children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers,” said the Head of Presidential Communications of the Republic of Indonesia, Hasan Nasbi, on Sunday (5/1/2025).
He revealed information from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), noting that 190 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) or MBG Kitchens are ready to operate. The kitchens are spread across 26 provinces, starting from Aceh, Bali, West Sumatra, North Sumatra, Riau Islands, Riau, Lampung, Banten, West Java, D.K.I. Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, D.I. Yogyakarta, Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, to West Papua and South Papua.
Each MBG Kitchen is managed by a head SPPG directly appointed by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). The head of SPPG works together with a nutritionist and an accountant to ensure strict supervision of nutritional quality and smooth food distribution. In addition to ensuring nutritional adequacy in every MBG portion, the SPPG is also tasked with strictly supervising hygiene standards, nutritional management, and waste processing in each MBG kitchen. BGN is committed to minimizing waste. In fact, to support sustainability, the serving trays are designed using hygienic and reusable stainless steel materials,” he explained.
As President Prabowo stated, Hasan continued, the government will not take a holiday on New Year’s, including Saturday and Sunday, to ensure the smooth implementation of the MBG program. The momentum of the start of this program also coincides with the beginning of teaching and learning activities in most schools this week.
The government prioritizes the readiness of the MBG Kitchens to ensure that services can run optimally. In the initial stage, 190 MBG Kitchens will start operating this Monday, and that number will continue to increase daily. It is expected that the target of 937 MBG Kitchens can be achieved by the end of January 2025, with implementation carried out gradually according to the readiness of each region.
The enthusiasm of the community towards this program is very high. Currently, 140 MSMEs have been involved in the supply chain of the MBG program, and this number is projected to continue to grow. Thousands of SMEs, cooperatives, and other village-owned enterprises have registered and are currently undergoing the evaluation process. The government ensures that there are no fees in the process of registering work partners. Complete information regarding the cooperation requirements and registration can be accessed through the one-stop registration system on the official website bgn.go.id.
The local economic activity is assuredly moving significantly towards improvement, as the MBG program involves local farmers, ranchers, and MSMEs. Multisector collaboration is expected to occur frequently. Business units in the regions can operate, such as cooperatives, BUMDes, kopontren, and others. All of them have the goal of ensuring that Indonesian children grow up with excellent quality towards Golden Indonesia 2024.
“Besides benefiting the recipients, the MBG program will also be an extraordinary economic driver.” It is hoped that all parties involved can gain positive benefits from this program,” according to Hasan Nasbi.
From January to March 2025, it is expected that the MBG program can reach three million beneficiaries, consisting of toddlers, students, preschoolers, kindergarteners, elementary school students, middle school students, high school students, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers. The number will continue to increase until it reaches 15 million by the end of 2025. “This number continues to increase gradually, until the target of 82.9 million beneficiaries can be met by 2029,” he said.
The Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG), supported by a budget allocation of Rp71 trillion from the 2025 State Budget (APBN), becomes the first program in the Quick Best Results Program (PHTC) under the leadership of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. This program is designed to provide nutritional intake to pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, toddlers, and students at all levels of education — from preschool, primary education, to secondary education, whether general, vocational, or religious.
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