Indonesia rolled out the Free Nutritional Meal (MBG) Program for students on January 6, 2025. Since then, millions of students have gradually received complete and balanced nutrition for the development of quality human resources, leading to the achievement of a Golden Indonesia.
In order to support this program, the government established the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to ensure nutritional improvement for MBG beneficiaries, including students, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers.
Since its official establishment on August 15, 2024, the agency has recorded several achievements.
As of August 15, 2025, the MBG Program had been supported by 5,885 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) or public kitchens and served 20.5 million beneficiaries throughout the country.
This number is expected to increase to 82.9 million beneficiaries by the end of 2025, in accordance with the instruction from President Prabowo Subianto.
In 2025, the government allocated Rp71 trillion (US$4.2 billion) for the MBG Program, and as of August 2025, Rp8.2 trillion (US$492 million) had been absorbed.
The head of state even allocated a budget of up to Rp335 trillion (US$20 billion) for the MBG Program during his speech on the 2026 State Budget Bill and its Financial Note on August 15.
This budget is considered the largest for a nutrition improvement program to develop quality human resources in the history of the nation.
However, such a large budget must also be balanced by consistent and measurable accountability to ensure the program truly benefits the people.
The President also stated that the MBG, in addition to improving children's nutritional quality, can also stimulate a stronger people's economy by creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs and empowering millions of farmers, fishermen, livestock breeders, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
On the other hand, the MBG implementation is still faced with various logistical, quality, and governance challenges.
Several studies have shown increased student attendance since the MBG program. Some countries have even considered school feeding programs, which are considered to have a positive impact on student attendance and learning outcomes.
However, the quality and effectiveness of this program in Indonesia must be improved, as the success of nutrition interventions in the community always depends on menu design, monitoring, and funding transparency.
Food safety challenges
Despite reaching more than 20 million students, the MBG Program continues to encounter challenges, including food safety at each SPPG, which still requires full government attention.
Recent cases of food poisoning in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara; and Sragen, Central Java, should serve as a lesson for the government to continue improving food safety throughout the supply chain, from planting to distribution.
This program, which is also designed to empower local communities by absorbing locally produced food, must ensure that all processing processes adhere to food safety standards to curb incidents and ensure food safety.
The government and all parties, especially the SPPGs, should monitor safety from planting, transportation, and distribution.
Based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO), food poisoning also happens globally, where one in 10 people worldwide reported having experienced foodborne illness.
The effects of food poisoning go beyond disease transmission and significantly impact productivity. The costs of food poisoning can be substantial, and prevention efforts from upstream to downstream must be thoroughly improved.
Therefore, the BGN is committed to addressing food poisoning cases, including by intensifying training for food handlers at each SPPG to prevent case recurrence.
The agency has also published a nutrition and safety standard module for ready-to-eat food, a collaboration between the Ministry of National Development Planning, the Ministry of Health, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), UNICEF, the Indonesian Nutritionists Association (Persagi), health offices in all provinces, and other related parties in the nutrition and food safety sector.
Food handlers are trained to process raw materials into ingredients and then cook ready-to-eat meals according to the module.
In terms of supervision, the BGN is also strengthening the safety aspect of fresh food at the SPPG, which supplies tens of thousands of portions of food daily, demonstrating a focus on food safety aspects beyond quantity.
Through these efforts, food safety challenges can be addressed, thereby achieving the primary goal of the MBG Program, namely eradicating stunting and reducing extreme poverty.
Improving the local economy
By the end of 2025, BGN targets the establishment of 30,000 SPPGs to serve 82.9 million beneficiaries. The SPPG opening is potential to create a multiplier effect through the involvement of MSMEs and farmers, and job creation in the service area.
However, budget transparency and monitoring must be reinforced to prevent misappropriation budget use. All parties involved in the supply chain must have adequate integrity and financial literacy to manage the substantial funds disbursed from the state budget.
Each SPPG requires up to 3,000 protein sources such as chicken, eggs, meat, or fish for a single production run. Multiplied by 20 days per month for beneficiaries at schools, this translates to a monthly requirement of 60,000 eggs, and/or pieces of chicken, meat, or fish.
If 30,000 SPPGs are established in the future, MBG will not only empower communities but also help stimulate the nation's economy.
In several regions, BGN has also engaged local dairy farmers to produce milk for each beneficiary. Farmers who previously struggled to sell their products now have the opportunity to remain productive and distribute their dairy products through local cooperatives.
Continuous evaluation
In the first six months, the MBG Program experienced growing pains, or initial difficulties, obstacles, and challenges in the early stages of a program's development, before achieving equitable nutrition for all people.
Growing pains do not necessarily mean failure, but rather a natural process that indicates an initiative in the adjustment phase before finding its rhythm and stability.
Once 30,000 SPPGs have been established, with better governance and a more organized supply chain, this program can achieve its goal of developing quality human resources.
Giving priority to vulnerable groups, such as communities in areas with a high prevalence of stunting, poor families, or pregnant women at risk of anemia, is necessary to make the program's outcome more targeted.
Furthermore, the improvement in nutritional and safety standards is also essential, along with empowerment for local cooperatives and MSMEs.
Budget transparency on the official BGN dashboard should be continuously updated and improved for the public to access all information related to the MBG Program.
A 24-hour channel for complaints and suggestions from the public should also be strengthened.
This free meal program demonstrated tangible progress in coverage and budget absorption in the first eight months of 2025. Scientific evidence and experience provide optimism that this program can improve children's learning outcomes and health, while stimulating the local economy.
However, long-term success is crucially determined by sharpened targeting, the quality of locally sourced menus, food safety standards, and budget transparency. By strengthening governance and data-driven evaluation, the MBG has the potential to become a high-value investment in human capital, not just a short-term expense.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti P, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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