Bapanas Chief Offers SPHP Rice for Free Meal Program

JAKARTA – The Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas), Arief Prasetyo Adi, offered to use the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) rice to support the Free Nutritional Meal Program (MBG).

"For MBG, if SPPGs are facing rice shortages, they can also use Bulog SPHP rice. This can also be done. Don't let rice become difficult to obtain, for example, if premium prices happen to be high. So, please contact your local Bulog directly," Arief said in his statement.

This SPHP rice, Arief continued, can now be obtained through the Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperative network.

This policy also grants these cooperatives the privilege of becoming official outlets for SPHP rice distribution.

"Once the Merah Putih Village Cooperative is ready, it will be able to sell SPHP rice directly. It will become an outlet. That's one of the privileges for the Merah Putih Village Cooperative, allowing it to directly sell SPHP. Also, if there are areas where rice is scarce, immediately inform the local Bulog, because we will implement it quickly throughout Indonesia," he said.

As of August 28, the distribution of SPHP rice for the July–December 2025 period had reached 82,200 tons.

Distribution through the Merah Putih Cooperative has even increased rapidly, from just 53.72 tons in early August to 379.8 tons, a sevenfold increase.

The price of SPHP rice remains stable at IDR 12,500 per kilogram for Java, Lampung, South Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi; IDR 13,100 per kilogram for Sumatra (excluding Lampung and South Sumatra), East Nusa Tenggara, and Kalimantan; and IDR 13,500 per kilogram for Maluku and Papua.

In addition to rice, the government is also preparing a business plan for the Merah Putih Cooperative to expand into other strategic staple food sectors, including the distribution of live cattle from local breeders.

"Going forward, based on discussions with the Coordinating Minister for Food, if possible, we can also sell live cattle at the Red and White Village Office. We can sell live cattle. This is because imported beef offers no benefit to the wider community," Arief said.