Sudaryono Appointed Head of National Nutrition Agency, Gerindra Praises His Work Ethic

President Prabowo Subianto has appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Sudaryono, as the new Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), replacing Nanik Sudaryati Deyang who stepped down for health reasons. Gerindra Party spokesperson Bahtra Banong stated that the party cadre is competent to lead the institution responsible for the free nutritious meal (MBG) project. “I think his work has also been good during his time at the Ministry of Agriculture,” he said at the Parliament Complex in Jakarta on Wednesday, 22 July 2026.

Prior to his appointment to lead the BGN, Sudaryono was part of the Red and White Cabinet. The Chairman of Gerindra’s Central Java Regional Executive Board previously served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture. Bahtra also assessed that Sudaryono’s relatively young age makes him competent to lead the BGN, providing him with great energy and mobility to manage the MBG programme going forward. “We hope he can be more progressive in improving governance, so that the BGN can become even better in the future,” said the member of the House of Representatives’ Commission II.

In a separate occasion, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi confirmed that Sudaryono would be inaugurated by the president as Head of BGN on Wednesday afternoon, 22 July 2026. “The inauguration is planned for this afternoon at around 3:00 PM Western Indonesian Time,” he said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. He noted that President Prabowo had accepted Nanik’s resignation, adding that finding a replacement for the head of the agency managing nutrition and free meals was not easy. Prasetyo also stated that Sudaryono would not hold concurrent positions after being inaugurated as Head of BGN, and would leave his post at the Ministry of Agriculture before assuming his new duties.

Previously, Nanik S. Deyang announced her resignation as Head of BGN via her Facebook account. She cited her desire to focus on heart treatment as the reason for her departure. Nanik expressed gratitude for having assisted President Prabowo with the free nutritious meal programme after supporting him for over a decade. “Having followed him for fourteen years, I know for a fact that the MBG programme is not for political purposes as some have accused,” she wrote on Wednesday, 22 July 2026. In her post, Nanik hinted at the identity of her successor, describing the person as someone close to her whom she considers a younger sibling.