Nutrition, State Presence, and Credibility: Lessons from Indonesia's Nutritious Meal Program in an Era of Uncertainty

11 Jun 2026 Nutrition, State Presence, and Credibility: Lessons from Indonesia s Nutritious Meal Program in an Era of Uncertainty By Akhmad Hanan Share Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on X (Twitter) Nutrition has become more than a health issue—it is now a test of Indonesia s development model and state capacity. Will the government s ambitious free meals program help close the gap with global standards, or expose the limits of its governance ambitions? Indonesia’s Human Development Index (HDI) in recent years can be said to be relatively stable. In 2025 , Indonesia recorded an index of 75.90 and already entered the “high” category, increasing from 75.02 in 2024. This rise was supported by better performance in three main dimensions, namely health with life expectancy reaching 74.47 years, education with average years of schooling at 9.07 years, as well as living standards which were reflected in the increase of real expenditure per capita. Even so, behind this achievement there is still a more subtle picture. Indonesia remains behind countries that have reached the “very high” category, while significant development gaps between regions are also becoming a major challenge.