Community Support and Government Commitment Strengthen Free Nutritious Meal Program
JAKARTA – The Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG) initiated by the Indonesian government has received a positive response from various levels of society.
With the aim of improving the nutritional quality of the community, especially children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers, this program is expected to be an important step in creating a healthier and smarter generation. Not only does it receive support from the community, but also a strong commitment from the government at all levels to ensure its sustainability.
KedaiKOPI Research Manager, Ashma Nur, said that the MBG program was well received by the community. “This program received a positive response with 84 percent of the community feeling financially helped,” said Ashma.
She added that although MBG has provided significant benefits, the majority of respondents hope that nutritional standardization will be a priority in improving this program. Ashma also expressed great hopes regarding the expansion of the program’s scope to all provinces in Indonesia.
“Expanding the scope of the MBG program to all provinces will bring greater benefits to communities in various regions,” she continued.
The local government also showed its commitment to supporting the smooth implementation of this program. Assistant I of the Riau Provincial Secretariat, Zulkifli Syukur, stated that the Riau Provincial Government is ready to support the acceleration of the implementation of MBG. “The Riau Provincial Government has 15 nutrition fulfillment service units (SPPG) spread across various regencies/cities in the Riau region,” said Zulkifli.
He hopes that with this program, children in Riau can grow optimally, both physically and cognitively. “This MBG program is a step to support Indonesia Emas 2045, with the hope that it can have a positive impact on the young generation of Riau,” he added.
The central government’s commitment to supporting the acceleration and optimization of the MBG program is also strengthened by the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia. Deputy for Systems and Governance of the National Nutrition Agency, Tigor Pangaribuan, explained that the coordination meeting discussed the President’s direction regarding the acceleration of the MBG program in 2025.
“This meeting also evaluated the implementation of the MBG program that has been going on for the past few months in each region,” said Tigor.
In addition, Tigor added that this program not only targets students from early childhood to high school, but also includes toddlers, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.
“This MBG program is in accordance with Presidential Regulation number 83 of 2024 concerning BGN, which aims to support better national nutritional development,” he said.
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