One Year of MBG Program, Who Benefits?

JAKARTA - One year has passed since the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program was carried out. A series of achievements were displayed by President Prabowo Subianto related to this MBG, but a number of observers said otherwise.

Prabowo made claims that his flagship program was successful. According to him, MBG has targeted 49 million beneficiaries with 0.0007 percent of poisoning cases, involving nearly 19,000 small business actors and village cooperatives, and creating 1.5 million new jobs.

However, analyst's analysis states the opposite. The Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) assesses that various MBG issues continue to emerge, ranging from poisoning cases, failed distribution, to the government's inconsistent and non-transparent response.

Free nutritious meals (MBG) is a flagship program of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka. MBG is one of the campaign promises list during the 2024 Presidential Election and is included as one of the eight Best Quick Results Programs.

Since it started in January 2025, the government has a high target from the MBG, namely improving nutritional status, freeing Indonesian children from malnutrition, and reducing stunting rates.

In addition, MBG is also expected to improve the quality of education, empower local economic actors, and create jobs. President Prabowo has repeatedly referred to the MBG program as a provision of nutritious food at no cost that is capable of improving the nutrition of children and driving the economy for thousands of farmers, fishermen, and small business actors.

The magnitude of this ambition is accompanied by a jumbo fund allocation for the MBG program. In the first year of implementation, Rp71 trillion was disbursed by the government for MBG. This figure will increase fivefold in 2026, with an allocation of up to Rp335 trillion. This budget is 125 times larger than the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and 680 times larger than the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

Even so, the massive budget was not accompanied by good implementation and supervision quality. The problem of mass food poisoning allegedly due to MBG emerged starting in mid-2025.

According to data from the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI), the victims of MBG program poisoning reached 16,109 as of October 31, 2025. This figure, said JPPI National Coordinator Ubaid Matraji, makes the MBG poisoning case the largest food tragedy in the education sector in 2025.

The large budget is also not accompanied by transparency. Information regarding budget details, regulation preparation, to data on the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) is not open. This makes it difficult for the public to carry out supervision to detect potential irregularities.

Apart from the above problems, another problem that is no less important in the MBG program is the vulnerability to conflicts of interest, patronage, and cronyism. This program is easy to exploit as a tool to maintain and expand the support network or loyalty of the current government.

According to the findings of the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), there are hundreds of foundations or SPPG partners who have received projects because they are suspected of having connections with circles of officials or Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

"We consider this investigation to be important because the practice of patronage and the connection of PEPs with the MBG program can open the door to corruption and only benefit the Prabowo-Gibran government, while the burden is actually borne by the public," said ICW.

They detailed that out of 102 foundations in 38 provinces in Indonesia, 28 foundations were suspected of being related to political parties, 18 foundations were suspected of being affiliated with businessmen, 12 foundations were suspected of being related to government bureaucracy.

In addition, nine foundations are suspected of being affiliated with volunteer groups or supporters of the presidential campaign, six foundations related to the military, four foundations are suspected of being tied to former state organizers, and two foundations are suspected of being affiliated with the police and prosecutor's office.

The alleged distribution of MBG kitchen rations was in the spotlight, and was discussed by the head of Commission IX of the DPR, Lucy Kurniasari, in a hearing with BGN in mid-November 2025.

He questioned the legal basis of the target of building 1,000 SPPG Polri throughout Indonesia. The target of 1,000 Polri kitchens was launched by Wakapolri, Dedi Prasetyo.

Meanwhile, the number of MBG kitchens managed by the TNI reached 452 units spread throughout Indonesia from a total target of 2,000 kitchens. TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto said that the TNI's involvement in this program was a form of service to help improve the quality of human resources from an early age.

"The involvement of the TNI in the MBG program is a manifestation of the moral responsibility and dedication of the TNI to the people. The TNI is always present in helping the people's difficulties, one of which is the fulfillment of nutrition for schoolchildren," said Agus on Saturday (27/9/2025).

Reflecting on the series of problems above, Celios assessed that the four main objectives of the MBG program were not achieved. Starting from improving child nutrition, to mobilizing the economy for small business actors.

"The provision of food at school does not directly affect the reduction of stunting," said Celios Isnawati Hidayah researcher.

"When we want to target stunting, the most important thing is the first 1,000 days of a child's life. And when we see in the field many cases of poisoning that befall vulnerable groups, whether pregnant, breastfeeding, and toddlers. It even threatens their safety," he added.

Meanwhile, Celios Executive Director Bhima Yudhistira called Prabowo's flagship project a substitutional effect. Simply put, this project replaces the existing market ecosystem that is in disarray.

This is because, according to his observation, a number of MBG kitchens prefer to take raw material supplies from high-class suppliers who have connections with the foundation's owners, rather than small and micro entrepreneurs. As a result, MSMEs are struggling to find supplies.

"The MBG originally wanted to encourage MSMEs, it is estimated that more than one million canteen or school catering workers were eliminated because the MBG took over the 'cake'," said Bhima.

For this reason, Celios assessed that President Prabowo needed to have a memorandum of his flagship program until he improved the chaotic system.