Jakarta. The free meal program is set to bring an economic benefit worth hundreds of millions for Indonesian cattle farmers, according to a farming association.

The Prabowo Subianto government is set to begin their flagship program of feeding all Indonesian students nutritious meals on Jan. 2. The government has had trial tests over the past few months. 

Indonesian Cattle and Buffalo Farmer Association (PPSKI) is upbeat that the program—which targets tens of millions of students from all over the country—can become a boon to the suppliers. In this case, cattle farmers.

“We warmly welcome [Prabowo’s] free meal program which will reach 82 million students. Hopefully, they will serve beef at least once a week,” PPSKI’s chairman Nanang Subendro recently said.

According to PPSKI estimates, a 30-gram serving of beef at least once a week is set to bring substantial economic impact. “It is equivalent to over 700,000 cattles, and that is worth over Rp 10 trillion [about $623.2 million],” Nanang said.

The school meal drive is set to help farmers cut down on the unnecessary costs, including transportation. Farmers can directly sell the beef in their own regions by becoming a supplier for the meals that would be distributed in local schools, according to Nanang. 

The association is also keeping its fingers crossed that the government will provide financial incentives for small-scale farmers to take part in the program. Nanang claimed that banks had been hesitant about providing loans to farmers after their non-performing loan rate rose amidst the foot and mouth disease outbreak. The highly contagious disease affects cattles and other cloven-hoofed animals. On July 12, 2022, foot and mouth disease in Indonesia reached 362,263 cases. There were 218,601 active cases at the time.

“The Finance Ministry should nudge banks into providing loans for farmers,” Nanang said.

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