Fact check: the pledge to feed 82.9 million by April 2026 was missed, then dropped

Verdict: Broken. The promise that Indonesia's Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme would reach all 82.9 million targeted beneficiaries by the end of April 2026 was not kept. The deadline passed, the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) said in July 2026 that it no longer had a beneficiary target, and the latest official figure is 58.2 million.

The promise

On 6 December 2025 BGN head Dadan Hindayana said the 82.9 million target would "most likely" be reached by the end of February 2026, so that from March the programme could serve 100 percent of its target, according to a BGN press release. He cited natural disasters and data verification problems as the reasons it would not happen by the end of 2025, and said BGN planned between 31,000 and 33,000 kitchens in total.

On 31 December 2025, opening a kitchen in Blitar, East Java, Dadan said MBG had served up to 55 million beneficiaries in 2025 and moved the date: "Next year we can chase 100 percent (82.9 million beneficiaries) by the end of April (2026), so that in May all intended beneficiaries can already receive Free Nutritious Meals," BGN quoted him as saying.

How 2025 ended

The programme started on 6 January 2025 with 190 kitchens serving about 570,000 people. Dadan told House Commission IX on 20 January 2026 that 19,188 kitchens were operating at the close of 2025 and that MBG served 55.5 million beneficiaries at the end of that year, merdeka.com reported.

Money was not the main constraint in 2025. Deputy Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara said on 18 December 2025 that Rp52.9 trillion of the Rp71 trillion MBG budget, or 74.6 percent, had been disbursed by 15 December, reaching 50.7 million of the 82.9 million targeted, CNBC Indonesia reported. Bisnis.com reported that by 31 December only 72.5 percent (Rp51.5 trillion) had been absorbed, with 56.13 million recipients. "When even the Rp71 trillion ceiling in 2025 was not absorbed optimally and the beneficiary target was not reached, the problem is clearly not a lack of funds but the readiness of the design and the capacity to execute," said M. Rizal Taufikurrahman of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef).

What happened in 2026

The end of April deadline passed without the target being reached. On 21 July 2026 acting BGN head Agustina Arumsari told a press conference that President Prabowo Subianto had directed the agency to fix the programme's governance and put quality first. "So we no longer have a beneficiary target," she said, as reported by Katadata. Katadata reported that the President had earlier set a target of 82.9 million by the end of 2026.

At mid-year the Finance Ministry counted 63.13 million beneficiaries, with Rp101.1 trillion spent in the first half of 2026, Katadata reported. On 6 August 2026 BGN head Sudaryono said recipient numbers would fall by about 6 million in 2027 because some beneficiaries had been counted twice, for example a pupil listed both at a madrasah and at a boarding school.

On 13 November 2026 Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara said MBG had reached 58.2 million beneficiaries through 27,485 kitchens (SPPG), with Rp173.2 trillion spent by the end of October, ANTARA reported. That is about 70 percent of the 82.9 million promised.

The government's side

BGN says it is now putting quality and food safety ahead of numbers. In November 2026 it activated 953 new kitchens in 34 provinces, aimed at about 1.5 million more beneficiaries, after activating 1,460 kitchens in October in remote areas and districts with high stunting rates, according to BGN press releases. Every newly activated kitchen must hold a hygiene and sanitation certificate (SLHS), the agency said.

BGN spokesperson Tysa Novenny said on 2 November 2026 that more than 58 million school pupils, pregnant and breastfeeding women and toddlers were receiving meals, that the kitchens employ 1.03 million local workers and work with 80,315 suppliers, and that Rp44 trillion of the programme's budget had been returned to the treasury through efficiency, according to the government communications agency (Bakom). Suahasil credited BGN's new management, in place since July 2026, with improving kitchen governance and checking that meals reach the right recipients.

Why the verdict is broken

The promise had a specific number and a specific date. Neither the end of February nor the end of April 2026 deadline was met, and the target itself was withdrawn in July 2026. Coverage has grown a hundredfold since January 2025, but it remains well below the figure that was promised, and BGN expects the count to shrink further in 2027 as double entries are removed.

What to watch

BGN plans to keep opening kitchens in remote and high stunting areas, while its head has said recipient numbers will fall in 2027 once double entries are removed. NewsWLD will update this check if a new, dated coverage target is announced.

This check is part of NewsWLD's tracker of promises made by Indonesian officials.