National Nutrition Agency Reviews Targeting Criteria for Free Meal Programme

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is currently reviewing a new distribution scheme for the free nutritious meal programme (MBG) by considering the socio-economic conditions of beneficiaries. One of the indicators being considered is a specific decile group or level of community welfare.

BGN spokesperson Agustina Arumsari stated that the decile will not be the sole reference in determining the target beneficiaries. Instead, this indicator will be combined with the level of nutritional vulnerability and the community’s access to meeting nutritional needs.

“Decile is just one indicator. There will also be nutritional vulnerability, socio-economic conditions where one parameter is the decile, and then access to nutritional fulfilment. We are still processing and formulating these criteria,” Arumsari said during a press conference at the BGN office in Central Jakarta on Thursday, 18 June 2026.

She explained that the BGN is still developing a more precise and efficient formula for determining the target beneficiaries. Discussions regarding this scheme will be conducted together with the Ministry of Finance during the preparation of the MBG programme budget for 2027.

Arumsari explained that community groups located in areas with high nutritional vulnerability, low socio-economic conditions, and limited food access could potentially become priority beneficiaries of the programme.

“If they are in a nutritionally vulnerable area, have low socio-economic conditions, and vulnerable access to nutritional fulfilment, that could be a consideration for us to refocus towards other parties who are more in need,” she said.

However, the BGN has not yet determined which decile group will be the priority target. The agency is still processing data before making a final decision. “If asked right now exactly what it looks like, the formula is still being developed,” she stated.

This review is being conducted amidst the BGN’s efforts to evaluate the programme’s budget requirements for next year. According to her, the assumption of 81 million beneficiaries, which formed the basis of the proposed MBG 2027 budget, still needs to be reviewed.

She assessed that the number of beneficiaries is potentially too large when compared to real needs and the government’s current fiscal condition. Therefore, the BGN is currently recalculating several assumptions, including the beneficiary targeting mechanism.

“That figure arose from the assumption of 81 million beneficiaries. We still consider that number too large,” she said.