GNV News, January 15, 2025

On January 6, 2025, a new ambitious project was launched in Indonesia: a free meal program for children and pregnant women. The program is being implemented based on a campaign pledge by President Prabowo Subianto, who was elected in 2024, with the aims of preventing child malnutrition and stunting and, through the provision of meals, fostering and securing future human resources. It aims to regularly deliver meals to 82.9 million people by 2029, and 570,000 meals were provided on the first day of the project.

However, there have also been criticisms pointing out fiscal challenges. The project is estimated to cost up to US$45 billion over five years, raising concerns that it could worsen Indonesia’s public finances. While Mr. Prabowo has pledged to accelerate Indonesia’s GDP growth rate from the current 5% to 8%, there are concerns that if the fiscal situation deteriorates, achieving this will become difficult.

Learn more about Indonesian politics → “Challenges Remaining in Indonesia After Democratization”

Learn more about access to food and its coverage → “Global Food Shortages: The Issues That Go Unreported”

Indonesian elementary school children eating free, nutritious meals (Photo: Aip Kurniawan / Shutterstock.com)