inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. Vice Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration, Ahmad Riza Patria, emphasized the importance of villages in Indonesia becoming the main providers of food for the Free Nutritious Meals program which is scheduled to start in 2025.

"Every village must be independent. No district may buy food for this program from other districts, even between sub-districts," said Ahmad on Friday (11/29/2024).

According to him, his party is mapping food potential in various villages to ensure that each region is able to contribute to supporting the program. By optimizing local potential, villages are expected to become the main supporters of nutritious food needs, such as rice, vegetables, fruit, fish, eggs, and meat.

The Free Nutritious Meal Program initiated by President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka is designed to target 82.9 million people. The National Nutrition Agency has determined the role of Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) and cooperatives as the main suppliers of food needs, supported by the establishment of Nutrition Service Units.

Each Nutrition Service Unit will serve up to 3,000 people, including children from preschool to high school, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers. This strategy is expected to overcome the problem of malnutrition which is still a major challenge in Indonesia.

President Prabowo also introduced the program at the G20 Summit in Brazil. In the forum, he said that hunger and poverty remain to be the real problems for Indonesia, with 25% of children in the country experiencing hunger every day.

"Through this program, the government hopes to strengthen village independence, improve the quality of community nutrition, and accelerate poverty alleviation," concluded the Deputy Minister of Villages.

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