BGN Chief: Evaluating Raw Material Standards for Free Nutritious Meals a Priority

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Sudaryono stated that evaluating raw material standards for the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme is a priority to improve the governance of the national priority programme. “All ingredients must be correct, with safety standards that must also be correct because we are learning from factors such as poisoning and others. So, besides the processing method, there is also the raw material, which may not be standardised or perhaps the quality of the raw materials is not very good,” he said in a confirmed statement in Jakarta on Thursday. He emphasised that President Prabowo Subianto has also ordered the BGN to sharpen its targeting so that the main goal of improving children’s nutritional quality can be achieved, while also impacting local economic growth. He also responded to the ongoing involvement of the TNI and Polri in the MBG Programme. His involvement in the early formulation of the MBG Programme and his previous position as Deputy Minister of Agriculture provided Sudaryono with the insight that the number of apparatus personnel in Indonesia is very large, making the role of the TNI and Polri crucial for the programme’s sustainability, including in empowering farmers to supply raw materials.