Gov’t Speeds Up Free Nutritious Meal Program, Set to Involve Cooperatives, Local Dairy Industry

Minister of Cooperatives Budi Arie Setiadi and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono deliver a press statement at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Monday (02/24). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat)

The Government has stepped up its efforts to accelerate food programs and strengthen cooperatives, particularly the signature Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program.

Minister of Cooperatives Budi Arie Setiadi and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono have conveyed various strategic measures after a meeting with President Prabowo at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday (02/24).

“We have just concluded a meeting with the President through which we discussed food measures, the Free Nutritious Meal program, the role of cooperatives, Ministry of Agriculture, and others. We also talked about accelerating rural development, especially in relation to food,” Budi Arie said.

The Minister also stated the importance of cooperatives as a key instrument in improving people’s welfare, particularly in agricultural villages.

“The President wants cooperatives to become a new lifestyle, to be strategic, and for these cooperatives to help the community improve their welfare,” he added.

The Government has also adopted a firm stance in supporting the local dairy industry.

Deputy Minister Sudaryono stressed that all milk processing industries must source locally produced milk from domestic farmers.

“The milk processing industry must source local milk. Otherwise, we can freeze or withhold their import licenses and quotas,” Sudaryono said.

The Deputy Minister added that around 80 percent of Indonesia’s national milk demand is still imported, while domestic production can only fulfill an estimated 20 percent.

The Government also aims to reduce the number of imports by increasing domestic milk production.

“According to President Prabowo Subianto’s directives, we aim to boost the milk industry and reduce imports, meaning that we don’t restrict people from drinking milk. People can drink milk, but from the 100 percent we consume, we need to reverse the [percentage] over time,” Sudaryono said.

To that end, the Government has announced an investment program for the procurement of mother cows and has also set a target to bring in two million breeding cows to the country.

“There are 167 companies committed to invest in procuring cows. So, the state does not use the state budget but rather the [companies] invest, the source of the cattle comes from them, they maintain the cattle, they partner with local breeders and so on,” he added.

The Government also ensures that the Free Nutritious Meal program will use local protein sources and currently, milk is not included in the program due to limited domestic production.

“We don’t want to give imported milk to our children. We want to substitute it first with other protein sources, such as eggs, chicken, and so on,” Sudaryono said. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/DNS) (FI/EP)