BGN Enlists Posyandu Centres to Help Oversee Free Nutritious Meals Programme
Jakarta (ANTARA) – National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Head Sudaryono said the agency was involving Posyandu community health centres in monitoring the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme to ensure it reached the intended beneficiaries.
The commitment was strengthened by a memorandum of understanding signed between BGN and the Central Posyandu Supervisory Team during a meeting on strengthening the governance of Dekranas, the Family Welfare Movement (TP PKK) and Posyandu supervisory teams across central Indonesia, held in Bali on Thursday (22 October).
“With this memorandum of understanding, our cooperation will cover not only MBG distribution, but also nutrition education, data collection and ensuring that beneficiaries are appropriately targeted,” he said in a statement in Jakarta on Friday.
He said Posyandu cadres held a strategic position because they were present down to village level and interacted directly with communities. Their reach could help BGN ensure that target groups requiring nutrition interventions received programme benefits according to their needs.
“MBG is funded with public money from the state budget. Therefore, public money must be converted into free nutritious meals that genuinely reach the right people and provide nutritional interventions to beneficiaries. This is why accurate data is important, including with the assistance of Posyandu and PKK cadres,” he stressed.
He added that the programme was continuing to expand its reach as Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) were brought into operation, particularly in areas with high stunting prevalence and in disadvantaged, frontier and outermost regions (3T). The effort is expected to broaden equitable access to nutritious food while supporting the prevention of nutritional problems from an early age.
“We are also opening the way for Posyandu cadres to work with SPPG kitchens. They can observe and inspect whether food is being prepared properly, whether standard operating procedures are being followed, and how distribution is carried out. We want Posyandu cadres to be BGN’s eyes and ears on the ground,” he said.
He said public participation was essential to maintaining the quality of the programme. Community involvement, including that of Posyandu cadres who are close to beneficiaries, could help BGN obtain information about conditions on the ground and make improvements more responsively.