Prabowo: Free Meal Program Reaches 55 Million Beneficiaries in First Year

1 week ago 6

January 6, 2026 | 03:38 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia’s free nutritious meal program, known as Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG), has reached 55 million beneficiaries within its first year of implementation, calling the rollout one of the fastest of its kind globally.

Prabowo delivered the remarks during the 2025 National Christmas celebration at Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday, January 5, 2026.

“Today, there are already 55 million beneficiaries of MBG in Indonesia,” said Prabowo.

Prabowo said the pace of implementation was unusually rapid compared with similar initiatives abroad. He cited Brazil’s experience, where a comparable program took more than a decade to reach fewer recipients.

“The Brazilian President told me that they reached 40 million beneficiaries in 11 years. We reached 55 million in one year, because we started on January 6, 2024; today is January 5, 2026,” he said, referring to his discussions with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

He added that the scale of the program was equivalent to feeding several countries’ populations daily.

“Every day, we provide food for 55 million, 55 million mouths,” said the former defense minister, noting that the figure is roughly eight times the population of Singapore.

Prabowo said the program, which aims to tackle child malnutrition and improve nutritional outcomes nationwide, has also drawn praise from experts in the United States. According to him, those experts described MBG as Indonesia’s best long-term government investment.

Beyond its social impact, Prabowo emphasized that the free meal program is designed for all Indonesians, regardless of political preferences or election results.

He pointed out that MBG continues to operate in Aceh and West Sumatra, provinces where he did not secure a majority in the 2024 presidential election.

Prabowo noted that in West Sumatra, he also lost to the Anies Baswedan–Muhaimin Iskandar ticket. In the 2024 election, the Prabowo Subianto–Gibran Rakabuming Raka pair won the majority of votes in 36 of Indonesia’s 38 provinces, with Aceh and West Sumatra being the exceptions.

The president said his responsibility now extends beyond political affiliations.

“Because now I do not belong to just one party. I belong to the entire Indonesian nation."

He stressed that the MBG program would continue to be implemented nationwide as part of his administration’s commitment to inclusive governance and national welfare.

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