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Analysis: Indonesia’s free meals program: Teething or structural problems?
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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) (JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana))
T
hree months since its January 2025 rollout, the government’s free nutritious meal program has encountered many problems on the ground, from reports of food poisoning and small portions with questionable nutritional value to unpaid suppliers and workers, as well as allegations of nepotism in the way the program’s contracts are being parceled out.
The military has also been brought in to assist the program, not so much as to run the security side as helping to set up and run kitchens.
The government might dismiss these as teething problems, but some argue they indicate deeper, fundamental problems with this ambitious program, raising questions about its sustainability.
By March, the program had covered only around 2 million schoolchildren, whereas the government is targeting coverage of all school-age children by November, meaning 82.9 million beneficiaries.
As if meeting this target is not challenging enough, President Prabowo Subianto also wants to expand the program to pregnant women and toddlers aged under 5 years, which means many more million mouths to feed every single day.
Funding is obviously the program’s biggest challenge, but government officials indicate an inclination to dismiss this issue, insisting that the money will become available somehow because this program takes priority over all else.
After all, this is Prabowo’s signature program to fulfill his 2024 election promise to address the country’s perennial stunting problem due to undernourishment and malnourishment.
