Prabowo: Nothing More Urgent Than an Empty Stomach

President Prabowo Subianto has stated that there is nothing more pressing than filling the stomachs of hungry citizens. The Head of State made this declaration whilst attending the 17th National Farmers and Fishermen Week in Gorontalo Regency on Wednesday, 24 June 2026.

In his address, Prabowo took aim at intellectuals who oppose his flagship project, the free nutritious meal programme (MBG). He claimed that MBG is needed by children as well as farmers and fishermen.

“Those who disagree with MBG should come here. Ask the farmers and fishermen, is MBG needed or not? Ask the children, is MBG needed or not?” Prabowo said, as quoted from a live broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel.

The Chairman of the Gerindra Party stressed that there is nothing more important than overcoming hunger. His reasoning was that people who are left hungry can die.

“There are clever people who say there are things more urgent than an empty stomach. I think there is nothing more urgent than an empty stomach. A person with an empty stomach, if not fed immediately, will die,” he stated.

The former Defence Minister under President Joko Widodo then touched on United Nations (UN) predictions regarding global hunger levels. According to Prabowo, the UN estimates that the number of hungry people in the world will rise to between 500 and 700 million.

Calls to halt President Prabowo’s flagship free nutritious meal programme have been growing louder. Waves of demonstrations in various regions, including Jakarta, Semarang, and Malang, over the past three weeks have carried a unified demand: a total evaluation of the MBG programme.

These demands gained momentum after a corruption scandal within the National Nutrition Agency, the body responsible for managing and overseeing MBG, was uncovered in early June.