BGN's Notes Over One Year of MBG: 25,000 Kitchens to Electric Motorcycles

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme has been running for more than a year. What are the notes on the implementation of President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship programme?

Deputy Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) for the Operational Division of Nutrition Fulfilment, Sony Sonjaya, presented notes on the one-year journey of the MBG programme.

“Alhamdulillah, without realising it, MBG has now been running for 1 year and 3 months,” said Sony during the event “One Year Journey of Free Nutritious Meals in Community Empowerment Efforts” at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment, Central Jakarta, on Thursday (16/4/2026).

With the ongoing expansion of MBG distribution, according to Sony, the programme has revitalised the economy, particularly in the regions.

“It turns out that the side effect or multiplier effect of the MBG programme is to revive and boost the economy in the regions,” he said.

So, what is the one-year journey of MBG like? Here is a summary:

Sony reported that the MBG programme has achieved 27,006 verified Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) in one year, and 25,000 of them have started operating.

“This is one concrete achievement, the first concrete manifestation because all 27,000 SPPG empower the community,” said Sony.

He stated that not a single operational SPPG was established through the goods and services procurement process.

In addition to requiring a large workforce, Sony said that Rp 40-54 trillion is needed to build 27,000 SPPG.

Therefore, most SPPG do not use state budget (APBN) funds, but are financed through self-funding by partners, the private sector, and community self-reliance.

Sony revealed the reason why Polri and TNI are allowed to manage 1,000 MBG kitchens, which originated from the target of 5,000 SPPG in 2025.

According to Sony, the government initially was not confident whether the programme was truly supported by the community or those involved in its implementation.

Therefore, BGN planned to build 1,542 SPPG using the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) in 514 districts/cities.