Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meals programme is scheduled to pilot in December, benefiting about 82.9 million residents in its first two years of operations.
Speaking at a press conference last week, head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Dadan Hindayana said the programme is piloted from Sabang city to Merauke township, and then will be carried out nationwide in early next year.
It will officially begin on January 2 and will start with 923 food kitchens in the first three months of operations. This will then be expanded to 2,000 in next April and then 5,000 kitchens between July and August, said Dadan.
The BGN has established service unit bases in various regions in the country, with each kitchen expected to serve around 3,000 people.
A flagship electoral campaign promise by President Prabowo Subianto, the programme was originally set to cover only preschoolers and school-going students, as part of a move to address child malnutrition, with a priority on stunting prevention./.
