Indonesia to launch $28 billion free meals programme to fight malnutrition

Indonesia will open thousands of kitchens across the country next year as the incoming government led by president-elect Prabowo Subianto kicks off his multi-billion dollar free meals program, the head of the agency running the initiative said on Tuesday.

Prabowo will be sworn in as Indonesia’s next president on Oct. 20.

In the first stage of his plan, meals will be given to around 20 million students from January at a cost of $4.54 billion (71 trillion rupiah) .

When running at full scale, the free meals program, which aims to end malnutrition in the country, will reach 83 million recipients, including pregnant mothers, and cost around $28 billion annually.

Dadan Hindayana, the head of the national nutrition agency, told an investment forum that at least 5,000 kitchens, called ‘service units’, will be set up next year, before ramping up to 30,000 units in 2027.

“The unit will not only operate as a kitchen but also have a role as a buyer for local agriculture products,” Dadan said, adding the units will create over one million new jobs.

The estimated demand for food under this program next year is at 312,000 metric tons of rice, 546,000 metric tons of chicken meat or 4.68 billion eggs, 936 million liters of milk and 546,000 metric tons of vegetables, according to Reuters calculation based on the agency’s data and accounting for six days a week.

Dadan said one kitchen, which would serve 3,000 children, would have a daily consumption of 200 kg of rice, 350 kg of chicken meat or 3,000 eggs, 600 liters of milk and 350 kg vegetables.

The nutrition agency will prioritize sourcing the food from local farmers and also will adjust the menus based on availability, Dadan said.