TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Egg supply at risk as free meals program expands, nutrition agency warns
Rise in demand from the free meals implementation is expected to wipe out the 200,000-tonne egg surplus that Indonesia currently produces.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Staff prepare lunch plates on the first day of the free nutritious meal program at a kitchen in Bogor, West Java, on Jan. 6, 2025. The government aims to feed around 83 million schoolchildren and pregnant women through the free meals rollout, which was one of President Prabowo Subianto's key promise during the 2024 presidential election. (AFP/Aditya Aji)
I
ndonesia is at risk of an egg shortage as President Prabowo Subianto’s administration ramps up its flagship free nutritious meal program, according to the National Nutrition Agency (BGN).
The agency head Dadan Hindayana said the number of beneficiaries was on track to reach its full-scale implementation of 82.9 million beneficiaries by the end of November.
That would translate to a demand of 10,000 tonnes of eggs weekly, an estimated 400,000 tonnes annually.
While currently Indonesia produces an egg surplus of around 200,000 tonnes each year, that figure will not mean much given the potential increase in demand from the free meals program.
“In a short period, the 200,000-tonne surplus could be wiped out. Without new entrepreneurs entering egg production, we might be forced to limit egg usage in the program,” Dadan warned during a public economic forum attended by President Prabowo on Tuesday.
Read also: Free meals program gets Rp 171t budget this year: Sri Mulyani
The government previously viewed the surplus as a potential export commodity to the United States, which has been struggling with supplies amid the H5N1 bird flu infection in that country.
