BELIOS: People Refuse Foreign Loans For Free Nutrition Eating Programs

Illustration of free nutritious food (ANTARA)

JAKARTA The Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) has released a second report on the Free Nutrition Food (MBG) program with the title Pervisory Plan VS of the Community'. This report aims to analyze the effectiveness of the MBG policy and see to what extent this program runs in the community.

The results of the CelIOS survey show that the MBG program is one of the factors that increases the popularity of the Prabowo-Gibran candidate pair. As many as 82 percent of respondents supported this couple because of campaign promises related to free nutritious food programs.

In addition, 92 percent of families in Indonesia still face difficulties in meeting nutritious food needs for their children, emphasizing the importance of this program.

CelIOS researcher, Galau D. Muhammad, revealed that people prioritize healthy processed foods and meat over milk in meeting children's nutritional needs.

A total of 43 percent of respondents stated that healthy processed foods are the most important needs. This shows public awareness of the importance of nutritious food which is also guaranteed quality and health," said Galau, Tuesday, January 28, 2025.

Food quality is a top priority for the community, with 40 percent of respondents assessing the importance of providing food that meets nutritional standards as well as high quality.

Regarding program funding, surveys show that 83 percent of respondents support funding through government budgets, while 79 percent strongly reject the use of foreign loans.

CelIOS researcher Jaya Darmawan emphasized that the sustainability of the MBG program must be funded through domestic sources that do not endanger fiscal stability.

The big budget for MBG must come from sources of funding that are not risky and do not interfere with other priority programs, such as social protection, education, or regional development. Moreover, using foreign debt which actually burdens the state budget in the future," Jaya said.

He suggested that the government take advantage of progressive fiscal policies, such as wealth taxes, production taxes in the extractive sector, and windfall profit tax from the natural resource sector. In addition, ineffective budgets, such as SDA Revenue Sharing Funds or food estate budgets, can be diverted to support the MBG program.

In addition to the free nutritious eating program, the survey shows that the public also considers subsidies in the form of money (20 percent) and improving the quality of education (13.8 percent) as alternative social assistance that should be considered.

"People tend to choose a more flexible approach, where assistance can be used as needed, whether to buy food, pay for education costs, or other urgent needs," Jaya said.

He added that the public wants a holistic approach that not only focuses on children's nutrition, but also on economic empowerment and education to support their future.

As many as 69 percent of respondents supported the implementation of the MBG program in stages to ensure its effectiveness. In addition, community participation is considered very important by 56 percent of respondents, while 53 percent of the community supports program management through multi-stakeholder collaboration.

"A gradual and collaborative approach is believed to be able to reduce the risk of deviation and increase transparency and efficiency in program implementation," said Galau.

This report provides a clear picture of the aspirations of the people regarding the MBG program and the challenges that the government must face to realize these policies effectively and sustainably.