Better Governance for Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG)
Authors
Jimmy Daniel Berlianto
Rasya Athalla Aaron
Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal Program (MBG) has been governed through a centralized, top down approach relying heavily on the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) and its nutrition fulfillment bodies model and it has expanded rapidly despite limited regulatory and governance readiness.
This first year of MBG implementation has shown shortcomings in the current governance model that potentially minimize the program’s effectiveness due to its focus on urban expansion and unclear health and nutritional standards, as evidenced by recurring poisoning and ultraprocessed food cases.
Learning from Brazil, India, China, Japan, and global trends, this study finds that the extent of centralization and top-down mechanisms, as found in MBG governance, is not a common model, as it risks ineffective implementation and monitoring. Examples from these countries show the strengths and weaknesses of different systems but highlight that clear and effective governance is critical for success.
To ensure MBG’s effectiveness and sustained impact, this study recommends revising Presidential Regulation 115/2025 that allows for a transition from the current centralized, top down governance model toward locally driven models. While the BGN may still be the national lead, the design and implementation should be driven by local actors, especially parents and schools, and should rely on local resources.
In revising the presidential regulation, CIPS recommends three key points of change: (i) mandating multiple implementation mechanisms, (ii) clearly distributing roles and authorities between the BGN and other relevant stakeholders, especially at the local level, and (iii) clearly mandating the gradual implementation of a program that prioritizes disadvantaged and at risk groups or regions.
Sharfina Indrayadi
