MBG Needs To Be Rescued, Not Stopped

A photo by Luthfiah VOI

JAKARTA Various problems that befell the Free Nutrition Food (MBG) program ranging from questionable nutritional values to poisoning cases in various regions do not necessarily indicate that President Prabowo Subianto's flagship program must be stopped.

On the other hand, the president, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and all policy makers actually have to find the root of the problem and find the right solution so that the MBG program really runs according to expectations and is right on target.

Pasundan University public policy expert, Eki Baehaki emphasized that no one should doubt the urgency of the MBG. This is because Indonesia is facing serious problems from stunting, anemia, to chronic malnutrition that undermines the quality of the younger generation.

A free nutritious feed in schools is a much-needed state intervention. However, noble intentions can be collapsed by fragile governance. The MBG program must continue but with radical governance improvements," he said, Sunday, September 28, 2025.

MBG illustration/ Photo: IST

According to him, repeated poisoning cases are a sign of a red light. This is because the principle of food safety, which requires maintaining cleanliness, separating raw and cooked foods, cooking correctly, storing at safe temperatures, and using clean raw materials, has not been running consistently.

The MBG program is a big investment. But without disciplined governance, the investment can actually result in health losses, loss of public trust, and political failure. After all, so that the MBG Program continues, there must be a way of surviving the revitalization of the MBG Program itself," said Eki.

MBG Program In Other Countries

Eki Baehaki's affirmation about MBG must continue to be true. This is because the problems that befell MBG in Indonesia are also experienced by other countries that have similar programs. For example, Malaysia, Kenya, France, and Brazil also held similar programs. The difference is, if Indonesia still faces challenges in the form of standardization of food quality, these countries also have their own problems.

In Kenya, the local government has had problems with financing and equity since 2023, Kenya has launched Africa's largest school food program. This program aims to feed 4 million students starting from Nairobi. At that time, President William Ruto emphasized that this program was their way of eliminating shame.

At the first time it was running, the Kenyan government allocated 5 billionurut Kenya (Rp576 miliar) funds to expand the scope of this program. Meanwhile, parents simply pay the equivalent of Rp1,200 per serving through a prepaid bracelet Tap2Eat and the government adds Rp4,000. This scheme reduces the burden on poor families while ensuring transparency.

The challenges remain large, especially equitable distribution in rural areas. Kitchen infrastructure, logistics of materials, and labor are not evenly distributed. Although thousands of new jobs are open and local farmers get a market, program sustainability depends on long-term budget commitments.

Neighboring countries, Malaysia has problems with menu quality and supervision. Quoted from Teach Malaysia, the neighboring country stands out with the Bill of Additional Food (RMT) targeting elementary school students from poor families. This program provides daily food and milk, with a budget of RM 869 million (around Rp. 4.3 trillion) in 2025.

The goal is to prevent malnutrition and stunting from an early age and to support learning achievements. However, evaluation found quality problems. Many canteens still provide nuggets, sausages, and drinks that contain a lot of sugar. Teachers and canteen operators do not receive nutritional training, so they focus more on cleanliness or low prices rather than nutritional content.

In addition, RMT only includes elementary school students. While the data shows 27 percent of teenagers are obese and 15 percent are stunted, there is no national program for junior high and high school. Without a more comprehensive policy, the nutritional gap among teenagers is difficult to solve.

Reporting from the official website of The Sustainable School Feeding Network, the Brazilian government has been running the National School Food Program (PNAE) since 1955. The program now reaches 40 million students in more than 150 thousand schools. The budget reaches 5.5 billion Real Brazil (around Rp. 18.1 trillion) in 2024, with an obligation of 30 percent of spending aimed at family agriculture.

This model strengthens the quality of nutrition because the menu is based on fresh and local materials, as well as opens a stable market for small farmers and the women's community. In addition, Brazil limits food ultra-processes to a maximum of 10 percent in the school menu. Unfortunately, distribution to remote areas and monitoring menus remains a big challenge. Since food inflation reduced costs, the Brazilian government has decided to strengthen nutrition education through the Eating is Learning' program and training school chefs to maintain quality.

From Europe, France is also experiencing problems, namely the issue of equity. Reporting from Euro News, France is pursuing a mixed system in running a free lunch program. About 50 cities in the country provide free lunch. However, the majority of regions apply progressive rates according to family income. This means that children's access to healthy foods depends on their residence location.

The challenge is to make this program evenly distributed in areas in need. Food inflation makes it difficult for some cities to maintain subsidies, while the central government leaves more responsibilities to the regions. As a result, children from poor families remain at risk of hunger even though they live in developed countries.

Reflecting on the experience of other countries that have already held similar programs, the Indonesian government has decided to make Brazil an example of the implementation of the MBG program. President Prabowo expressed a strong desire to imitate and study the Brazilian-style MBG system. In fact, the president instructed his team to arrange a direct meeting with representatives of the Brazilian government to explore governance, funding to mechanisms for distributing healthy food to school children.

"I have asked my team to plan a meeting with Brazilian representatives. We will send a team to study lunch programs for Brazilian school children," said the president.

The move was then followed up by the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sugiono when meeting with the Brazilian Foreign Minister to discuss opportunities for cooperation in the field of food security and nutrition-based education. "Brazil is a strategic partner because their success is not only in the distribution of food, but also in empowering local farmers and budget transparency," said Sugiono.

Continuing MBG Accompanied By Comprehensive Corrections And Audit

Regarding the issue in the implementation of the MBG, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian emphasized the importance of coordination between the Free Nutrition Food Task Force (Satgas MBG) and local governments to minimize problems in the field. Coordination between the Regional Government and the MBG Task Force is absolutely necessary. With good synergy, problems in the field, including cases of student poisoning, can be minimized and even prevented," he said.

Tito emphasized that MBG's success was not sufficient to be determined solely by national policies. This is because the active role of local governments through the MBG Task Force is the key so that nutrition supervision runs optimally while ensuring programs are right on target.

The instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian was also agreed by the academic University of Nusa Cendana, Ricky Ekaputra Foeh, who asked the local government to be proactive and alert in carrying out mitigation and overcoming the crisis that befell the MBG program. In addition, it is time for the decentralization of authority from the central government to the local government. "The local government must be given direct authority to supervise the kitchen of MBG providers, assign nutritionists and monitor distribution to consumption in schools," he said.

Illustration of the activities of the Food and Nutrition Management School (SPPG) (ANTARA)

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According to him, this model can imitate the pattern of handling the Covid-19 pandemic, when local governments are given ample space to move Puskesmas, Posyandu, and local Task Force. As a result, responses become faster, contextual, and according to regional conditions. BGN still holds national standards, but field executions are carried out by local governments. Co-governmentance like this is more effective, because public nutrition and health problems cannot only be controlled from the center," he added.

Ricky highlighted the importance of accessing complete data for local governments, ranging from menus, kitchens, to daily distribution. Thus, supervision can be carried out in layers, where national standards by BGN (menu and nutrition), while supervision of kitchens and production, as well as monitoring of consumption and the risk of poisoning by local governments.

The experience when Covid-19 proves that the local government's full involvement makes policies more successful. The same principle needs to be applied in the MBG program so that it is not just a matter of food distribution, but also regarding public safety and health," he said.

A doctor who is also a social activist, Puspita Wijayanti, said the government needed to ensure that the MBG program was running well again. He considered that stopping the total MBG was not a wise solution, because nutrition problems remained real and had to be intervened. On the other hand, continuing the MBG without any corrections is also dangerous.

"So the middle way: pause selectively. That is, temporarily stop the kitchen or provider who has problems, audit thoroughly, and reset the mechanism," he explained.

Puspita revealed that several options that need to be considered include strict standardization, which includes every food provider having to pass hygiene certification, periodic audits, and random laboratory tests. In addition, community-based decentralization involves school cooperatives, local food MSMEs, even parents, so that the distribution chain is shorter and more transparent.

Another option is to review the menu and adaptive logistics. "Don't force the menu to be stale for regions with a large distribution. Use local food that is more resistant, nutritious, and according to culture," he added.

He also said that strict sanctions are needed, such as termination of contracts and blacklists for providers who are negligent, to legal processes if proven to cause casualties. Without a clear and consistent sanction mechanism, the quality of the MBG program will never be guaranteed.

"So it's not a matter of being stopped or continued, but how do we make sure this good program doesn't fall into just a political project, but really save the future of the nation's children," concluded Puspita.