Free Nutritious Meals Programme: Enhancing Indonesia's Human Resources

TheIndonesia.id - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has stated that the Free Nutritious Meals Programme aims to improve the quality of human resources in Indonesia by providing high-quality nutrition for children.

According to Antara News Agency, in an Instagram post on Wednesday, Sri Mulyani referred to a World Bank study from 2024, which found that providing nutritious meals can increase attendance and participation rates, as well as reduce malnutrition and stunting.

In addition, the United Nations data from 2021 showed that providing nutritious meals in developed countries helped control eating patterns and reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes in school-age children.

“The impact of the Free Nutritious Meals Programme is expected to boost economic activities at the regional and village levels, especially for MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises), create job opportunities, and stimulate economic growth,” she wrote.

The government officially launched the program on Monday as part of efforts to improve community nutrition. In January, the primary focus of the programme will be on students.

This programme is part of Asta Cita, the eight key initiatives introduced by the Prabowo-Gibran administration, which aims to improve Indonesia's future generation by addressing the nutritional needs of pregnant women, toddlers, schoolchildren, and individuals at risk of stunting.

The government has allocated a budget of IDR 71 trillion (approximately USD 4.4 billion) for this programme, which is currently being implemented at 190 kitchens across 26 provinces.

By mid-2025, the government targets to have 5,000 kitchens fully operational to support the program, which is expected to serve up to 20 million beneficiaries.

The free meals programme will be rolled out in stages to reach the target of 83 million beneficiaries nationwide by 2029, according to M. Qodari, Deputy Chief of the Presidential Staff.

“Since this is a very large-scale programme that reaches all regions in Indonesia, with a total of nearly 83 million beneficiaries, it cannot be done all at once. It has to be implemented in stages,” he said after reviewing the program at an elementary school in Pulogebang, East Jakarta, on Monday.

The phased implementation is expected to allow improvements in the system and mechanisms to address potential challenges.