Jakarta. Indonesia is planning to make the import process for dairy cows easier to accommodate President Prabowo Subianto’s free school meal plan, according to Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman.

Indonesia is gearing up to start distributing free nutritious meals to school-age children across the country in January.  The government is also currently making sure that Indonesia has enough food and milk to distribute to the kids. To this end, the populous country is mulling bringing in dairy cows from overseas so local farmers can produce higher quality milk. 

“We will not make it difficult for dairy farmers to import cows. This is all to produce higher quality milk,” Amran said on Thursday during a business trip in the East Javan regency of Pasuruan.

The ministry will also discuss with regional banks and cooperatives for any possible funding scheme for the dairy cow imports, according to Amran. 

His statement came not long after Amran revealed Indonesia would import around 1 million dairy cows in 2025-2029.

Indonesia will purchase these dairy cows from Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, the US, and Mexico.

The government forecasts that the national fresh milk demand will reach 8.5 million tons by 2029. About 4.9 million tons will come from regular milk demand, while the remaining 3.6 million tons will supply Prabowo’s free meal program.

During the election, Prabowo promised to feed all Indonesian school-children as a means to cut the national stunting rate.

The government has ran some trial runs for the ambitious free meal drive at some schools. The menu typically comprises of the Indonesian staple food rice, chicken, vegetables, fruit, and milk.

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