Government Targets MBG Recipient Refocusing to Be Completed Within One Month
Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan is targeting a refocusing of recipients of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme to be completed within one month, including mapping out elite schools that do not require the scheme. “As part of improvements, we need to refocus so that the beneficiaries are accurately targeted. For example, elite schools indeed do not require nutritious meals,” stated Zulhas, as Zulkifli Hasan is familiarly known, during a press conference on improving MBG service quality and remote service units held at the Coordinating Ministry for Food office in Jakarta on Thursday. Zulhas noted that conversely, schools needing the MBG programme have not yet received it. Therefore, within a month, Zulhas said mapping of MBG recipients will be conducted to ensure the programme benefits reach the right communities. “This will be arranged further because we will focus on those who are delayed. It is very delayed in the 3T (frontier, outermost, and least developed) regions,” Zulhas remarked.
Additionally, within this month, Zulhas also conveyed the government’s commitment to improving the quality of MBG kitchens. The government will not tolerate any Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) with issues regarding hygiene standards, including the cleanliness of their equipment. “There is zero tolerance for this food safety issue. Even one case of food poisoning must not happen again,” Zulhas said. Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Nanik S Deyang, stated that the agency is implementing several budget efficiency measures so that the programme’s execution does not burden state finances without altering the nutritional fulfilment targets for beneficiaries.
The first step taken is a moratorium on opening new service points and kitchens. To date, there are 27,877 operational kitchen points based on virtual accounts, which will be reorganised to assess the suitability of service capacity against the number of beneficiaries in each region. BGN has also temporarily halted new kitchen registrations while mapping needs across various areas. This restructuring is being done because the distribution of kitchens is still concentrated on the island of Java. The next step is refocusing beneficiaries so that nutritional interventions are more directed toward groups genuinely in need. An evaluation is being conducted on the number of beneficiaries currently recorded at around 63 million people.
Furthermore, BGN will also strengthen supervision of service quality. In 2026, the programme’s focus will be directed at improving implementation quality, not merely chasing quantity. Evaluations will be conducted to ensure operating kitchens have met technical guidelines and possess appropriate service capacity. Nanik said the MBG programme is a mandate that must be executed properly because, besides aiming to improve the nutritional quality of Indonesian children, the programme is also expected to stimulate the economy at the grassroots level.