The realization of food assistance distribution to 1.4 million families at risk of stunting (KRS) in 7 Indonesian provinces has reached 81.5 percent as of May 25, 2023, the National Food Agency (NFA) has said.
"As we know, chicken meat and eggs are good sources of proteins for fulfilling nutrition. By distributing them as food aid, the government wants to ensure that families at risk of stunting receive adequate nutritional intake to prevent and reduce stunting," NFA Head Arief Prasetyo Adi said in Jakarta on Friday.
In the first stage of distribution, 57 thousand packages (89 percent) of stunting food assistance have been provided to Banten, 405 thousand packages (99 percent) to West Java, 322 thousand packages (99 percent) to Central Java, and 314 thousand packages (82 percent) to East Java, he informed.
Further, four thousand packages (4 percent) have been distributed in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), two thousand packages (14 percent) in West Sulawesi, and 72 thousand packages (52 percent) in North Sumatra.
According to Adi, the distribution of stunting food assistance is expected to have a positive impact on efforts to reduce stunting rates, control inflation, and strengthen the national poultry ecosystem.
He also expressed the hope that the sustainability of food assistance would be maintained with an even more massive target and reach.
"Farmers admit that the presence of the government through the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Food (Holding) as an off-taker has contributed to maintaining the stability of selling prices of eggs and chicken meat at the farmer level. The impact is very broad," he informed.
Besides food assistance, he said that the agency has also integrated the stunting reduction program with the Movement for Diverse, Nutritious, Balanced, and Safe (B2SA) Food Consumption, through cooperation with the Central Family Welfare Development Team (TP PKK) on the management of the B2SA Food House.
The B2SA Food House is an educational and socialization center set up to promote the diversification of community food consumption for fulfilling nutritional needs and preventing stunting. Currently, it has started running in Binjai, North Sumatra, and it will be duplicated more widely in other districts/cities, he said.
"We are also running a stunting reduction program through the Save Food Movement, in collaboration with food waste prevention communities and food donors/providers, such as retail associations, restaurants, hotels, and others. We are collecting food donations through food logistics car facilities to be distributed, one of which is to people who have limited access to food and nutrition," Adi added.
He said that the distribution of stunting food assistance, comprising one whole chicken and one tray of chicken eggs or 10 eggs, has been carried out by the NFA with the help of the SOEs Food Holding called ID FOOD. The assistance is being distributed in three stages over three months. It started in April 2023 or before Eid and will be carried out until July.
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