JAKARTA (Xinhua): Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has set a goal of providing free nutritious meals to 20 million people before the country's Independence Day on Aug 17, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan said in a statement on Monday.
As of the end of July 2025, the program had reached 7,374,135 beneficiaries through 2,375 active community nutrition kitchens.
The recipients include schoolchildren, toddlers, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, as well as students at Islamic boarding schools and other religious schools.
"This program is a comprehensive strategy to improve the quality of Indonesia's human resources from an early age.
"If our children are healthy and intelligent, the future of the nation will be more secure," Gunawan said.
Beyond its nutritional and health benefits, the free meal programme also bolsters economic resilience by lowering household expenditures, creating millions of jobs, and stabilizing food prices through direct purchases from smallholder farmers. - XInhua
