Before the pandemic began, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration had outlined a vision for his second term, which includes reducing stunting rates as a priority to improve the quality of Indonesian human resources.

Stunted children tend to find studying harder than their peers who enjoy sufficient nutritional intake. They are also likely to endure slow physical and mental development, reduced productive capacity and poor health, as well as a higher risk of developing noncommunicable diseases.

Nearly 7 million Indonesian children under the age of 5 affected by stunting, but the rate has declined from 30.8 percent in 2018 to 27.6 percent in 2020. According to the National Medium-term Development Plan for the 2020-2024 period, Jokowi aims to reduce stunting to below 20 percent in the second term of his government.

However, the unprecedented pandemic greatly affects the plan. The Indonesian government, just like others, is forced to pivot and pay full attention to addressing COVID-19. In response to the sudden crisis, the government has rearranged budget spending to handle the pandemic.

Even before the pandemic, many people living on the edge suffered hunger. Lurking behind COVID-19 is news that is potentially even more devastating for those with the fewest resources and options. More and more Indonesian children are becoming malnourished due to the deteriorating diets, family income loss and overburdened health facilities due to efforts to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19.

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