Indonesia kicks off ambitious $45b free meal plan

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Indonesia has launched a $45 billion nationwide free meal program aimed at providing nutritious meals to 82.9 million people by 2029. The program will initially focus on school children and pregnant women. Critics argue the program is financially unsustainable and could strain the country's fiscal health.

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00:00Morning tea time in Jakarta, and kids at this school canteen are loading up on sugar and

00:08sweets.

00:09But then the food truck arrives, one meal each, in a nationwide effort to tackle malnutrition.

00:17It's pretty amazing what you can get here for just $1.

00:20These meals have beef, vegetable, rice and a piece of fruit.

00:27Delicious, they say.

00:31Parents and children are really happy they now have these nutritious meals.

00:37Usually they only buy chicken porridge or instant noodles from the canteen.

00:42The new president, Prabowo Subianto, introduced the meals to reduce the high rate of growth

00:49stunting.

00:50More than one in five Indonesian kids show the physical and cognitive effects of not

00:55eating enough protein and nutrients.

00:57But the $1 cost per meal adds up to $7 billion this year from the government budget.

01:04And that's only going to grow as the meals are eventually rolled out to 83 million schoolchildren

01:10as well as pregnant mothers.

01:12The plan is not really good enough as usual.

01:16This is a political promise.

01:20Of course there is no scientific and socio-economic studies, it's very clear now.

01:26He's not alone in worrying Indonesia's budget won't stretch enough to get meals

01:31to all the kids who need them.

01:33But for now the government is mobilising kitchens and food producers to expand the program quickly

01:39in a country where a bit of extra protein goes a long way.

01:50For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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