Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and the Poverty Alleviation Acceleration Agency (BP Taskin) have agreed to work together to empower poor communities by involving them in the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program.

MBG is one of the poverty alleviation efforts in the regions, BGN’s deputy for provision and distribution, Suardi Samiran, said at the BP Taskin Office here on Tuesday.

It is necessary to sustain the supply chain for the program to ensure against supply and demand gaps in its implementation.

“Currently, there are approximately three thousand kitchens, so the supply and demand are still balanced. However, when the number grows to 24 thousand or even 30 thousand kitchens, the supply and demand will become unbalanced,” he explained.

Therefore, he said, BP Taskin will collaborate with BGN to help maintain the MBG supply chain in the regions.

According to Samiran, the MBG program has the potential to drive local economies, with money circulation possibly reaching Rp80 billion each month, and thereby contribute to poverty alleviation.

“Imagine if one kitchen circulates Rp1 billion. In one district, for instance, with 70 or 80 kitchens, there would be Rp80 billion in circulation each month. That amounts to about Rp800 billion per year,” he said.

Meanwhile, BP Taskin’s deputy for acceleration of facilitation and welfare protection, Zaidirina, said that the cooperation with BGN is a follow-up to a MoU signed between the heads of BGN and BP Taskin regarding national nutrition fulfillment and accelerated poverty alleviation.

“We see the MBG program as one of the strategic efforts to accelerate poverty reduction through community empowerment,” she added.

She noted that BP Taskin frequently receives visits from local leaders, including those from frontier, outermost, and underdeveloped (3T) regions, who express great hopes that the MBG program can help empower local communities.

With the provision of one thousand MBG kitchens in 3T regions, she expressed the hope that efforts to eradicate poverty in Indonesia through community empowerment can be achieved soon.

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