Collaboration between Government and Religious Organizations to Realize Sustainable MBG
JAKARTA – The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) Program continues to receive broad support from various parties, ranging from religious organizations, academics, to local governments and the private sector. This collaboration is the main key in ensuring the sustainability and effectiveness of the program which aims to improve the nutritional quality of Indonesian children.
The General Chairperson of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU), Yahya Cholil Staquf, emphasized that PBNU has formed an acceleration team to fully support the implementation of MBG.
“We have collaborated with the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to ensure that the implementation of this program runs optimally,” said Yahya.
PBNU also invited farmers from Nahdliyin circles to plant dryland rice as a form of real support for this program. “A total of 8,000 hectares of rice fields have been planted with dryland rice through collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, and we are committed to continuing to expand this effort together with Nahdlatul Ulama farmers throughout Indonesia,” he added.
In addition, PBNU has signed a memorandum of understanding with BGN to ensure the sustainability of this program in the long term.
Support for MBG also comes from Muhammadiyah which is developing a digital-based application to increase the effectiveness of program implementation. The Coordinator of the Muhammadiyah MBG National Coordination Team, Safrudin Anhar, said that this application is a major breakthrough in MBG program management.
“This application is designed to monitor the operation of the MBG kitchen to be more effective and on target,” said Safrudin.
The development of this application involved the Ahmad Dahlan Institute of Technology and Business and Muhammadiyah University to ensure that the quality of the program remains measurable.
“The main features of the application include monitoring raw materials, managing food distribution, and tracking the development of children receiving MBG benefits. We are also open if the National Nutrition Agency wants to adopt this application on a national scale to strengthen efforts to improve student nutrition,” he explained.
From the regional government side, the Chairman of the Riau Islands (Kepri) DPRD, Iman Sutiawan, emphasized the importance of synergy between the government, the business world, and the community in making MBG a success. “Collaboration from all parties, including the government and entrepreneurs, is very important to ensure the success of this program,” said Iman.
He also highlighted the success of the implementation of MBG in Kepri, especially in Batam City.
“We see that the implementation of this program is going well. Therefore, we hope that the governor, mayor, DPRD, and entrepreneurs can fully support MBG for the benefit of the nation and state,” he added.
Iman also emphasized that the growth of a child’s brain and physique is very dependent on the intake of nutritious food. “Consuming nutritious food will help improve children’s memory, which ultimately contributes to improving the quality of human resources in the future,” he said.
