Indonesia Gets Groundbreaking Nutritious Meals Program to Combat Malnutrition

The Nutritious Meals Program or Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG), is top of President Prabowo Subianto’s  Hasil Terbaik Cepat Program or eight priorities.

Spearheaded by the National Nutrition Agency, the initiative aims to provide free, nutritious meals to millions of Indonesian children.

Speaking on the development, the Presidential Communication Office Spokesperson, Philips J. Vermonte said this is the first in the history of the country that a government program will be catering for millions of school children with nutritious meals.

“For the first time in the universal history of independent Indonesia, a government-subsidized program, will provide millions of our students with rich nutritious meals, processed with high standards of hygiene, ready to be served to children in schools across the largest archipelagic nation in the world.”

According to Vermonte “A Nobel laureate and economist Amartya Sen has emphasized the importance of investing in human development, including nutrition, stating that economic growth withoutinvestment in human development is unsustainable.

“This highlights the signicant returns on investment that can be achieved through improving nutrition and overall humandevelopment,” he further explained.

Explaining how the food will be sourced, Mr. Vermonte said that Key Features of the Program include high-quality, balanced meals prepared with locally sourced ingredients to ensure freshness and central kitchens, locally dubbed as Satuan Pemenuhan Pelayanan Gizi (Nutrition Services Provision Center).

In addition to that intervention, he said, the program includes nutritional education, meal planning, and healthy eating habits for participating communities.

He noted that, there’s partnerships with local stakeholders to manage food waste, in collaboration with the local environment protection office and sustainable agricultural source, empowering local farmers.

The School Meals Coalition drives actions to urgently improve and scale up school meal programmes to ensure that every child can receive a healthy, nutritious meal in school by 2030.

Vermonte stated that the coalition set three objectives of reaching the 73 million most vulnerable children who were not reached even prior to the pandemic by 2030 and improve the quality and efficency of school health and nutrition programmes globally by 2030.

The program has received endorsements from United Nations agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

These global organizations have commended the Nutritious Meals Program as a pivotal step towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), particularly Goal 2 on Zero Hunger and Goal 3 on Good Health and Well-being.

According to UNICEF, every dollar invested in nutrition can yield up to $16 in economic returns. This high return is due to the numerous benefits of good nutrition, including improved health, better educational outcomes, and increased productivity.

Meanwhile, the World Bank, said every dollar invested in nutrition can generate economic returns ranging from $4 to $35.