Jakarta, Jan 6 (IANS): Indonesia launched its free meal programme on Monday, a key initiative of the government led by President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to improve the nutrition of its citizens.
"Our goal is to reach three million beneficiaries from January to April," said Dadan Hindayana, head of the National Nutrition Agency, on Monday. He emphasised that the programme will be implemented in stages, with daily evaluations to ensure effective delivery.
The initial phase is being rolled out in 26 of the country's 38 provinces, prioritising school students as the first group to receive assistance. It will then include toddlers, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.
Hasan Nasbi, head of the Indonesian Presidential Communication Office, reported that 190 kitchens are currently operational to provide meals across the 26 provinces. He expressed hope that the programme will achieve a target of 937 kitchens by the end of January, with an ultimate goal of 5,000 kitchens by the end of 2025, capable of serving up to 20 million beneficiaries, Xinhua news agency reported.
Last August, Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced the government's plans to expand its free meals programme to benefit not only school students but also pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers.
"The government agreed with the parliamentary factions that the free meals programme, funded by the state budget, should also target pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers," Indrawati said during a hearing with parliament in the last week of August 2024.
The programme aimed at improving nutritional adequacy, enhance child intelligence, prevent stunting, and ultimately boost the quality of human resources in the country, Indrawati added.
Preventing stunting remained a priority for the government, which had successfully reduced its prevalence from 37.2 per cent in 2013 to 21.5 per cent in 2023.
The government had allocated approximately 71 trillion rupiah (around $4.57 billion), or 0.29 per cent of the gross domestic product, to the program. It also aimed to stimulate economic growth by around 0.10 per cent through the employment of 820,000 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) workers linked to the programme.