"Each region has its own characteristics. It will be the authority of the nutritionists in each region; a minimum of 30 thousand nutritionists will be needed for this program," he said in Jakarta on Monday.
According to Hindayana, BGN has also formed service units in 34 provinces, with each unit consisting of three central BGN employees — one commitment-making official (PPK), one nutritionist, and one financial expert.
He is targeting to cover 82.9 million beneficiaries in the first run of the program, which will be completed by no later than mid-2025.
"We will start on January 2, 2025. The program will be carried out gradually to reach 930 points from Sabang to Merauke, with a balanced nutritious food menu," he said.
He then provided information on members of five categories of households in Indonesia: poor, middle-poor, middle-class, upper class, and upper class. The average upper-class households consist of 2.84 members, while poor households have an average of 6 members.
He said that poor households have an average income of less than Rp1 million (US$61).
"(With that amount) It is impossible to feed three children. Thus, we need to handle this program properly to prevent a demographic disaster in the future," he emphasized.
In addition, he said that the Free Nutritious Meals program will also strengthen the food system and make it more resilient.
"With investment funds requiring Rp400 billion (US$24 million) per year, the ones benefited from the investment are the agriculture sector because we need raw materials where 95 percent of the products come from farmers," he disclosed.
He informed that each province will be equipped with a BGN service unit with a budget of around Rp8 to Rp11 billion (US$487 thousand to US$670 thousand), depending on the village's fiscal capacity and raw material prices in each region.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti P, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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