MBG is a Priority, Prabowo Quotes Bung Karno: A Hungry Stomach Can't Wait

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto emphasized the importance of accelerating the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Program by quoting the statement of the 1st President of the Republic of Indonesia, Soekarno, that a hungry stomach cannot wait.

Prabowo said this during the Red and White Cabinet retreat or the early year briefing at the Garuda Yaksa Training Center, Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, Tuesday, January 6, 2025.

"I remember the words of our predecessors, one of Bung Karno's words, 'the hungry stomach cannot wait'. A leader who is responsible, a leader who has a heart, a leader who has concern must work hard to eliminate hunger and poverty," said the President.

Prabowo said the launch of the MBG program was based on a study that showed that about 20 percent of Indonesian children were malnourished, even in some areas the figure reached more than 30 percent.

In addition, there are still many children who go to school without breakfast or only consume foods that are very limited in nutrients.

As of January 6, 2026, the implementation of MBG has reached approximately 55 million beneficiaries, including children and pregnant women. This achievement was achieved within one year of implementation.

"This is also something to be proud of because the countries we know, for example Brazil, the President of Brazil told me that they needed 11 years to reach 40 million beneficiaries. We 1 year reached 55 million beneficiaries," he said.

In its implementation, the President acknowledged that there were still shortcomings and potential for deviation, but the government continued to carry out evaluations, supervision, and security measures on an ongoing basis.

The government targets that the implementation of the program can be close to 100 percent without defects, with improvements made gradually based on monitoring results in the field.

"We are grateful that if we study objectively, statistically, we can say that we have succeeded 99.99%. So brothers, of course, we hope for zero defects. That's what we have to achieve," said the President.

"We are not satisfied with the shortcomings of 0.00, even for us something that we must overcome and thank God we have overcome and we are still overcoming. Step by step, supervision by supervision, security measures we continue to do," he said.