Jakarta. Indonesia announced Wednesday that it would import around 400,000 cattle this year, according to Deputy Agricultural Minister Sudaryono.

The government is nudging businesses into bringing in those much-awaited cattle that could help supply the milk needs for President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship school-feeding program.

Indonesia is aiming to import 200,000 dairy cattle throughout 2025. The archipelagic, populous country also wants to bring in  200,000 foreign beef cattle this year. It will import 2 million cattle for breeding over the next five years. About 1 million of those cattle are dairy cows. Indonesia will distribute the breeding cattle to its farmers -- both those of small and large scale -- through partnership schemes. 

“We want businesses to bring in live cattle for breeding purposes so we can meet the national needs, especially for the free nutritious meal program,” Sudaryono said in a statement on Wednesday.

He added: “The government will not directly import cattle, but will open the room for cattle farming investors.”

The Prabowo government has just kicked off the budget-heavy, historic free nutritious meal program earlier this week. This school-feeding program aims to provide a nutrient-dense meal, which includes milk, to students of preschool age to high school. Expectant mothers are also getting these government-aided meals. The lunch plates distributed so far typically include rice, protein (meat and poultry), vegetable dishes, fruit, and milk. Sudaryono admitted that Indonesia was still lacking in terms of its beef and milk production. 

For the free meal program, the government gets to spend no more than Rp 71 trillion ($4.4 billion) this year. In its launch, the government has set up 190 public kitchens across 26 provinces to cook the meals. They have also partnered with 140 small-scale businesses in its supply chain. This program aims to reach 15 million individuals by the end of 2025, and will gradually increase to 82.9 million people in 2029.