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Free nutritious meals for resilient agrifood systems

For decades, Indonesia has strived to optimize the productivity of its farmers to be able to meet the ever-growing domestic demand. The free meals program now presents a golden opportunity to pursue that ambition at a systemic scale, from farm to table, from nature to the pockets of the poorest.

Purna Cita Nugraha and Rajendra Aryal (The Jakarta Post)
Rome/Jakarta
Wed, February 5, 2025

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Free nutritious meals for resilient agrifood systems Ready-to-eat: Workers unload lunch boxes from a van on Jan. 6, 2025, the first day of the free meals program, at a high school in Sidoarjo regency, East Java. (JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)

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resident Prabowo Subianto’s free meals program (MBG) aims to serve more than 80 million Indonesian school children, children under five and pregnant and lactating mothers across Indonesia’s archipelago, becoming one of the largest school meal initiatives globally.

This initiative might seem bold, however, the international community, which has had similar experiences, is encouraging Indonesia in this tremendous effort since a few countries across the globe also have successfully implemented a program of this fashion.

For this reason, Indonesia supported the Group of 20 Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, which has put the school meals program, whose concept is similar to Indonesia’s, as one of its six high-impact areas.

On Jan. 16, Indonesia also joined the School Meals Coalition (SMC), a global initiative launched by France and Finland in 2021, bringing together over 100 governments including the United States, China, Brazil, Japan and a number of Western European countries, as well as neighboring countries with lower incomes than Indonesia, such as Timor-Leste and Cambodia. The coalition also includes over 130 partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP). These organizations represent the holy trifecta of Rome-based Agencies (RBAs) to ensure every child gets a daily healthy, nutritious meal at school by 2030.

Strategic alliances are needed to ensure Indonesia’s initiative to make the best use of available international good practices and align well with global goals. The FAO, with its “four betters” is one of the most important partners to ensure the benefits of the free meals program are well-reflected in achieving better agrifood systems, meaning the journey of our food from farm to table, in the following key four areas.

First, better production. The major challenge for this great initiative comes from the farmers’ side in their varying levels of productivity to be able to maintain a stable supply for a program that runs daily. More than 27 million Indonesian farmers are small-scale family farmers who, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), grow food, breed fish and keep livestock in their backyards, which vary greatly in size.

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Some of them are also fisherfolk practicing fishing and farming simultaneously. They are facing multiple challenges, ranging from a lack of access to quality inputs (seeds, fertilizer, etc), as well as technology, machinery, finance to crop and livestock insurance.

They are also an aging workforce as farming has increasingly become unattractive and not a lucrative profession for the younger generation. More should be done in these areas to boost production for better implementation of the free meals program.

Second, better nutrition. Why do countries, including low, middle and high-income alike, "need to afford” school meal programs amid variations in scale? It is because evidence has shown that spending is deemed productive due to far-reaching positive impacts that go beyond lunchboxes.

When these lunchboxes create a large-scale demand for more nutritious meals, they create an equally large-scale shift in the supply side, driving farmers, small and medium enterprises and other actors in the food value chain to supply more nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables, beans and dairy products. At the end of the day, it will have a significant impact on countries and global efforts to address malnutrition.

This leads to our third goal, which is a better environment. The government is committed to prioritizing locally grown food and local endemic varieties of food for the free meals program, which is a great start toward minimizing the carbon footprint and conserving biodiversity. However, farmers are facing more extreme climate events such as droughts and floods, which disrupt farming seasons.

Such events cause crops to fail and render obsolete farming practices which have been passed down for generations. Further technical support for small farmers is needed to assure quality, safety and biosecurity standards, as well as to apply climate-smart practices while raising awareness about food loss and waste. If these could be implemented throughout the food value chain, it would make the free meals program more resilient and sustainable.

And finally, a better life. This initiative will cost approximately Rp 71 trillion (US$4.4 billion) or 2 percent of the national annual expenditure in the first phase. Unfortunately, farmers and agricultural workers make up nearly half of Indonesia’s low-income population, according to BPS, meaning that any measure that improves their lives and livelihoods, including the free meals program, would directly contribute to poverty alleviation.

If some portion of this large sum is spent by giving preference in procurement toward family farmers and their cooperatives, along with decent and direct payment for their products, it would be a boost of income for Indonesian farmers. It would help them improve their livelihoods and give them a better life.

All these challenges require rapid support and policy undertakings. Strategic alliances and partnerships, including with the FAO, will be of paramount importance to ensure the alignment of the free meals program with the global dream of achieving resilient agrifood systems.

The FAO has been working closely with Indonesia to provide necessary technical assistance. The FAO is also willing to support Indonesia by working together with other countries through South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC).

For decades, Indonesia has strived to optimize the productivity of its farmers to be able to meet the ever-growing domestic demand. The free meals program now presents a golden opportunity to pursue that ambition at a systemic scale, from farm to table, from nature to the pockets of the poorest.

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Purna Cita Nugraha is the alternate permanent representative of Indonesia to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Rajendra Aryal is FAO representative for Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The views expressed are their own.

 

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