Free Nutritious Meals Programme Stabilises Incomes for Fish Traders in Aceh

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme has created new opportunities for fish businesses in the coastal area of Sabang, Weh Island, Aceh. Fitra Novrizal said his income had become more stable thanks to the national priority programme.

Fitra described how he became involved in the MBG programme. Field surveyors from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) first visited the fish traders’ premises and discussed the types and quantities of fish needed daily and weekly before the traders decided to join.

“Since partnering with MBG, traders’ incomes have become more stable and increased, while the prices fishermen receive for their fish have also improved, making the business more profitable,” Fitra said in a video on BGN’s official YouTube account, cited in Jakarta on Thursday.

Fitra said fishermen in the area had previously been highly dependent on the seasons, namely the east and west monsoons. When the west monsoon arrived, they struggled to catch fish and their incomes fell.

He therefore hopes the MBG programme will continue so that more traders and fishermen can benefit.

Meanwhile, Samsul Widodo, director-general for the Acceleration of Development in Disadvantaged Regions at the Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions, said the programme could provide an opportunity to strengthen local food systems.

“MBG for schoolchildren will stimulate rural industrialisation in the food sector,” Samsul said.

BGN has also pledged to act as an offtaker, or buyer of last resort, purchasing local catches and fishery products directly to meet the programme’s daily menu requirements.