Food Aid of Rice and Cooking Oil Continues Until April 2026
The government, through the National Food Agency (Bapanas), has confirmed that food assistance in the form of rice and cooking oil will continue until April. This policy forms part of the first-quarter 2026 economic stimulus programme.
‘The extension of the programme’s implementation is necessary so that all 33.2 million low-income individuals can feel the presence of the government. Distribution will take place from March to April,’ said Deputy for Food Availability and Stabilisation of Bapanas, I Gusti Ketut Astawa, in his statement on Friday (27/3).
Bapanas records show that as of 25 March, the distribution of rice and cooking oil food assistance has reached 382,529 recipients across 24 provinces. In detail, 7.65 million kilograms of rice and 1.53 million litres of cooking oil have been distributed to the public.
The government is encouraging Perum Bulog to accelerate the distribution of rice and cooking oil food assistance. As reported, the government has allocated a total budget of Rp11.92 trillion for the rice and cooking oil food assistance programme. The distribution target is 33.2 million aid recipients throughout Indonesia.
Based on the letter from the Head of Bapanas number 204/TS.03.03/K/02/2026 dated 11 February, the distribution of rice and cooking oil food assistance for February and March periods will be carried out simultaneously after the budget is issued in the Budget Implementation List (DIPA) of Bapanas.
The total number of recipients has been increased to 33,244,408 from the previous 18,277,083. The five provinces with the largest number of recipients include West Java with 6,093,530 recipients, followed by East Java with 5,638,478 recipients and Central Java with 5,071,126 recipients. This is followed by North Sumatra with 1,756,846 recipients and Banten with 1,298,597 recipients.
The number of food assistance recipients in eastern Indonesia has also been increased. Maluku Province has been added 142,978 recipients compared to the previous programme, bringing the total to 266,500 recipients. North Maluku has been added 55,017 recipients, making it 112,428 recipients.
Papua Province has been increased by 50,973 to a total of 118,076 recipients. West Papua has been increased by 30,197 to 74,044 recipients. For Southwest Papua, it has been increased by 35,030 to 78,965 recipients.
Furthermore, the total recipients in Papua Pegunungan have been increased by 112,805 to 265,356 recipients; South Papua increased by 26,041 to 73,601 recipients; and Central Papua increased by 55,997 to 228,654 recipients.
Separately, the Head of Bapanas, who is also the Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman, stated that relaunching this food assistance programme is one of the government’s efforts to maintain prices of strategic staple foods. Moreover, he said, domestic production of rice and cooking oil is sufficient, so the public must be able to feel its benefits.
‘Therefore, to maintain the stability of food supply and prices, the National Food Agency is implementing strategic steps, one of which is the distribution of 10 kilograms of food assistance and 2 litres of cooking oil for two months to 33.2 million beneficiary families,’ said Amran.