Indonesia plans communal kitchens to support free meal program
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Samsul Widodo, Director General of Acceleration of Disadvantaged Regions Development, proposed communal kitchens in underdeveloped areas of Indonesia, particularly Papua, to support the nationwide MBG program.
Widodo discussed the idea during an online discussion about implementing the program in frontier regions. He explained that Papua’s small villages and schools, often with only 10 to 20 households or students, require a different approach to food provision than other areas.
These communal kitchens would function as shared facilities where people can process food and learn to cook meals using locally sourced ingredients. The Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions has already used similar village kitchens to teach women how to prepare nutritious meals, and plans to have local residents, including women’s groups, manage the facilities.
The MBG program, a key initiative of the Prabowo Subianto administration, aims to improve nutrition for toddlers, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and school-age children across Indonesia, reaching millions of people starting in early 2025.
