KarunaNews Story

Indonesia’s new government has started a project to feed nearly 90 million children and pregnant women that is expected to cost $28 billion through 2029. The Free Nutritious Meal program delivers on a promise by President Prabowo Subianto to mprovide free school lunches and milk to 83 million students at more than 400,000 schools by 2045. It aims to reach an initial 19.5 million schoolchildren and pregnant women in 2025 with a budget of 71 trillion rupiah ($4.3 billion), said Dadan Hindayana, head of the new National Nutrition Agency. That will buy 6.7 million tons of rice, 1.2 million tons of chicken, 500,000 tons of beef, 1 million tons of fish, vegetable and fruit, and 4 million kiloliters of milk. Nearly 2,000 cooperatives will provide eggs, vegetables, rice, fish, meat, milk and other food.