Finance Minister Encourages Free Nutritious Meals Programme to Involve Village Enterprises and MSMEs to Strengthen Supply Chain

The government is encouraging the Nutritional Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) to empower People’s Production Centres, Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes), micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and local food suppliers to strengthen the supply chain for the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme. According to Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, this step aims to improve the supply chain and increase the logistical capacity of the MBG programme while ensuring that food ingredients are sourced directly from producers around the SPPG locations. ‘The government has encouraged SPPG to empower People’s Production Centres, BUMDes, MSMEs, and local providers to absorb food ingredients directly from farmers, livestock breeders, and fishermen around the SPPG locations,’ Purbaya said during a plenary session at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday. He acknowledged that there are still challenges in the initial stages of the MBG programme’s implementation, particularly regarding supply chain readiness, food distribution routes, and logistical capacity, especially in frontier, outermost, and underdeveloped regions (3T). Oversight will involve the Directorate General of Treasury and the Directorate General of State Assets, which are spread across all districts and cities. ‘So the supervision will be more structured, and it is not the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) doing the supervising themselves. We will not engage in collusion. If the BGN supervises itself, there is a vested interest,’ Purbaya stated during a media briefing. Evaluations of the programme’s implementation and budget absorption in the field will be conducted periodically every two months. Purbaya stressed that the government will not tolerate any SPPG found to be problematic in executing the programme. The plan to form this oversight team emerged after the Head of BGN, Nanik S. Deyang, met with the Finance Minister and conveyed that there were still obstacles in supervising the MBG programme in the regions.