Novali Panji Nugroho, Jakarta – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto claims that the free nutritious meal program (MBG) has had an impact on job availability during its one-year implementation. According to him, MBG has created at least one million jobs.
"I can prove to you, Prabowo Subianto, as President of the Republic of Indonesia, that I have now created one million jobs solely from MBG," he said in his press conference at the National Coordination Meeting of the Central and Regional Governments in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, on Monday, February 2, 2026.
Prabowo said the one million jobs come from the 22,000 public kitchens operating throughout Indonesia. He stated that each village where MBG is distributed has at least 10 to 20 people who can work as food suppliers.
The head of state claimed that the jobs created from the free meal program will increase as distribution reaches beneficiaries. According to him, up to 5 million new jobs will be created if the MBG program reaches 82 million people.
"Ultimately, if we (distribute the MBG) to 82 million people, it will create 3 to 5 million jobs," said the Chairman of the Gerindra Party.
Furthermore, Prabowo claimed the MBG's success rate during its one-year implementation. According to Prabowo, as of early February of this year, the MBG had reached 60 million beneficiaries, with a near-perfect success rate.
Prabowo initially stated that all Indonesian children must have enough to eat. The Head of State then said that many predicted his priority project would fail. He also did not deny that there were still many cases of food poisoning during the MBG distribution period.
"If we add up the thousands of people who were poisoned compared to the billions of meals we have distributed, the statistic is 0.0087 percent. What does that mean? It means that 99.99% of the MBG efforts must be declared successful," he said.
– Ervana Trikarinaputri contributed to the writing of this article.
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2084620/prabowo-claims-free-meal-program-created-1-million-job