Free Nutritious Meals Become a Milestone in Human Resource Development, IPB Nutrition Expert: Must Be Sustainable
Jakarta – The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) Program, which is one of the flagship programs of the Prabowo-Gibran government, has begun to show positive impacts on education, health, and the development of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
This program is considered a strategic step to build superior human resources (HR) in welcoming Indonesia Emas 2045.
A Nutrition Expert from the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), Prof. Ali Khomsan, assessed the MBG program as an excellent long-term investment to improve the quality of Indonesian HR.
“After two terms of President Joko Widodo’s government with a focus on infrastructure development, now the MBG program is President Prabowo’s massive effort to build HR nationally. This program targets all elementary, junior high, high school students, even PAUD, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers,” said Prof. Ali Khomsan.
According to him, this program is very relevant considering that the issue of stunting is still a national problem. Data from the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey (SKI) revealed that stunting not only occurs in toddlers, but is also evenly distributed among elementary, junior high, and high school students, with a prevalence of around 18% to 23%. Therefore, MBG is expected to be able to improve the nutritional status of school-age children.
Furthermore, Prof. Ali explained that the MBG program can improve children’s height posture according to nutritional standards. In countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, similar programs have been shown to have a positive impact on nutritional status, school attendance rates, and student academic achievement.
“There, children who receive nutritious food experience increased school attendance and better academic achievement in Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Language,” he said.
However, the implementation of the MBG program in Indonesia still faces a number of challenges. Currently, only around 600,000 children have received the benefits of this program, from a target of 82 million children. It is hoped that by August 2025, the program’s coverage can reach 15 million children, and by the end of 2025 it can reach all targets.
Prof. Ali emphasized the importance of periodic evaluation to ensure the effectiveness of the program. Evaluation should include aspects of nutrition, plastic waste management from food packaging, and reducing food waste.
“Long-term impact evaluations such as improving nutritional status and academic achievement can only be seen in the next two to three years. However, formative evaluations must continue to be carried out so that implementation in the field is better,” he said.
In addition to having an impact on health and education, the MBG program also provides opportunities for the development of MSMEs. Food vendors involve local business actors as part of the food supply chain. Thus, this program also drives the regional economy.
In the future, Prof. Ali suggested that the implementation of MBG could consider simpler patterns, such as providing milk and eggs, to reduce the complexity of food procurement. However, he still appreciates the government’s commitment to providing complete nutritious food for children.
“This program must be sustainable and its continuity must be maintained, like in the United States which has been running a nutritious food program since 1946 until now. With good management, the MBG program can be the key to success in creating a golden generation of Indonesia in the future,” concluded Prof. Ali Khomsan. [-red]
