The National Nutrition Agency (Indonesian: Badan Gizi Nasional), is a cabinet-level agency formed by PresidentJoko Widodo to initiate Prabowo Subianto's free lunch for students and provide nutritional adequacy for four vulnerable groups: students (of elementary to senior high school, special needs education, and islamic boarding school), toddlers, pregnant women, and lactating women.[1] 82.9 million people of total Indonesian population will be targeted as beneficiary of this program.[2]
During his campaign, Prabowo promised that he will provide lunches for students.[3]
As the foundation of the agency, Deputy II (Food and Nutritional Insecurity), a deputy of the National Food Agency, was removed from the agency and transformed into the new agency.[6] Consequently, the National Nutrition Agency shared the same office with the National Food Agency during its formation period.[7]
On 15 August 2024, Joko Widodo signed the formation of two of Prabowo's future cabinet-level agencies. The National Nutrition Agency is one of these agencies, established to facilitate and fulfil Prabowo's mission.[8]
Although it was created to support Prabowo's free lunch programme, Joko Widodo expects that in the future, the agency will not only serve as a facilitator of the free lunch programme but also promote and cultivate a healthy lifestyle in Indonesia.[2]
In October 2024, Dadan Hindayana, Head of the National Nutrition Agency, announced that the Indonesian government plans to allocate up to Rp 800 billion (US $51.16 million) per day for a free meals programme to feed children across the country.[9]
Funding
IDR 71 trillion (US$4.542 billion) was allocated in 2025 when the National Nutrition Agency was fully operational to implement the free meals programme.[5]Sri Mulyani, the Minister of Finance, revealed that the IDR 71 trillion allocated to fund the programme has already been set aside and will not divert funds previously allocated for educational matters.[10]
Structure
Based on the Presidential Decree No. 83/2024, the agency consisted of:
Office of Steering Committee of the National Nutrition Agency
Office of Chairman of Steering Committee of the National Nutrition Agency
Office of Vice Chairman of Steering Committee of the National Nutrition Agency
Steering Committees
Executives
Office of Chief of the National Nutrition Agency
Office of Deputy Chief of the National Nutrition Agency
Office of Main Secretariat of the National Nutrition Agency
Bureau of Performance Management
Bureau of General Affairs and Finance
Bureau of Human Resources and Organization
Bureau of Legal Affairs and Public Relations
Bureau of State Properties Management and Services
Deputy I (System and Management)
Deputy I Secretariat
Directorate of Nutrition Fulfillment System
Directorate of Nutrition Fulfillment Management and Administration
Directorate of Nutrition Fulfillment Risk Management
Deputy II (Supply and Distribution)
Deputy II Secretariat
Directorate of Supply and Distribution I
Directorate of Supply and Distribution II
Directorate of Supply and Distribution III
Deputy III (Promotion and Cooperation)
Deputy III Secretariat
Directorate of Nutrition Promotion and Education
Directorate of Cooperation and Partnership
Directorate of Social Empowerment and Community Participation
Deputy IV (Monitoring and Supervision)
Deputy IV Secretariat
Directorate of Monitoring and Supervision I
Directorate of Monitoring and Supervision II
Directorate of Monitoring and Supervision III
Inspectorate
Main Inspectorate
Inspectorate I
Inspectorate II
Inspectorate III
Centers
Center for Data, Information, and Technology
Technical Implementation Units
Around 100 Technical Implementation Units will be formed as servicing units under the agency.[11]
Food poisonings
Since the launch of the free meals programme on 6 January 2025, there have been repeated instances of mass food poisoning reported nationwide. The first case occurred on 16 January in Sukoharjo, when ten students fell ill, followed by similar incidents across multiple provinces. By late September, 6,452 children had been affected nationwide, and the National Nutrition Agency noted 4,711 suspected cases out of one billion portions served.[12] A subsequent report recorded 16,109 affected pupils as of 31 October.[13]
The Ministry of Health attributed these incidents to bacterial and viral contamination linked to poor kitchen sanitation.[14] NGOs[which?] urged the government to suspend the ten-billion-dollar programme, describing the outbreaks as a "systematic failure."[15]
Government responses varied. West Java suspended the programme in several areas after hundreds of students fell ill.[16] President Prabowo Subianto defended the initiative, later acknowledging its flaws and citing a 0.0007 per cent incident rate.[17][18] A coordination team comprising 13 ministries was subsequently formed for daily monitoring.[19]
Lawmakers[who?] also commented on the issue, stating that difficulties were to be expected in a programme of this scale.[20]
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