Indonesia prepares special free meals scheme for remote 3T regions

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian National Nutrition Agency (BGN) is preparing a special scheme for Free Nutritious Meals Program (MBG) implementation in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions.

According to the head of the Government Communications Agency (Bakom RI), Muhammad Qodari, the measure is intended to ensure nutrition services reach communities with geographic conditions and population densities that differ from those in urban areas.

"There will be a different scheme for the 3T regions," Qodari said in a statement on Friday.

This policy aligns with the government's efforts to refocus the MBG program, which now prioritizes breastfeeding mothers, pregnant women, and toddlers (3B), as well as communities in the 3T regions.

He noteed that implementing the MBG program in the 3T regions presents unique challenges due to difficult geography and relatively small populations, making it impractical to rely solely on conventional Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPGs) or MBG kitchen.

Currently, each SPPG serves around 2,000 to 2,500 beneficiaries, making the model more suitable for densely populated, non-3T areas. In contrast, it is less effective in 3T regions, where populations are smaller.

He explained that food distribution to 3T areas from SPPGs outside those regions could be less efficient and may not comply with BGN standards. Under the MBG implementation guidelines, each SPPG may only serve beneficiaries within a six-kilometer radius and a maximum travel time of 30 minutes.

"However, the small populations in 3T areas make it impractical to operate SPPGs under the conventional model," Qodari said.

Therefore, the government is currently finalizing the most suitable mechanism for delivering the MBG program to beneficiaries in 3T areas, including the possible use of school canteens as service facilities.

Other alternatives are also being considered, given that not all schools in 3T regions have canteens due to limited infrastructure.

Qodari emphasized that the government remains committed to implementing the MBG Program in 3T regions, citing its vital role in reducing stunting, improving nutrition, and strengthening the quality of Indonesia's human resources.

"The program plays a key role in reducing stunting, improving children's health and overall development, and enhancing cognitive abilities to help raise Indonesia's PISA scores to the level of other countries," he said.

PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is an international assessment conducted every three years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure the abilities of 15-year-old students.

Rather than testing memorization of school curricula, PISA evaluates students' ability to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world challenges in reading, mathematics, and science.

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Translator: Fathur Rochman, Resinta Sulistiyandari

Editor: M Razi Rahman

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