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.
Domestic Nutrition Policy
This is where Indonesia’s nutrition policy become more and more important. In development logic, improvement of HDI depends on quality of people’s health and also cognitive capacity, both are heavily affected by nutrition condition since early age. The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) Program, which has become one of the main priority programs under President Prabowo Subianto, is a direct intervention aimed at the very foundation of HDI itself. However, because of that strategic position, MBG also turns into the most vulnerable point within Indonesia’s human development agenda. If it succeeds, the program can speed up the jump in human resource quality; if it does not work as expected, it will show the limitation of the country’s capacity in managing its own big ambitions.
In recent years, nutrition has been increasingly lifted from only a technical public health matter into a strategic national agenda. Indonesia is not an exception in this case. Discussions about stunting, nutritious meal programs, and food security are now sitting at the crossroads between domestic policies and wider global dynamics. What previously was seen merely as a household or kitchen concern, today has become connected with diplomacy, security, and even the credibility of a nation itself. Yet, behind all the narratives of progress and ambitious targets, there remains a reality that is much more complicated,and still far from finished.
Indonesia has made significant progress in it’s nutrition policy. The prevalence of stunting, which refers to low height-for-age caused by long-term undernutrition in childhood, has become less prevalent in Indonesia over the past decade, has gone down during the last decade, now sitting around 19–20 percent. Compared with the early 2010s, when more than one-third of toddlers were affected. However, if compared to global standards, the achievement is still not optimal. Indonesia still has not reached the “safe” level based on WHO standards, and is still far from entering the ideal category. This achievement shows a similar pattern with the HDI situation: there is real progress, but still not enough to fully narrow the gap with the standards seen globally.
Barriers Towards Global Standards
This vulnerability is not only technical, but involves structural gaps that limits Indonesia’s capacity to close the gap. Indonesia still deals with a triple burden of malnutrition; undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency, and overnutrition at the same time. Access to good-quality food among different social groups remains quite unequal, both across regions and also from a socioeconomic perspective. This condition partly explains why the improvement of HDI has been moving relatively slower than what actually could be achieved.
In geopolitical context, this condition has direct implications on narrowing the gap. HDI is not merely a measurement of development, but has also become an indicator of global competitiveness. The relatively low quality of Indonesia’s human resources still limits productivity, innovation, and overall competitiveness. Because of that, nutrition can be seen as a latent foundation of geopolitical strength. The complexity increases with Indonesia still depending on strategic food imports, which under normal situation may still be manageable, but during conditions of geopolitical instability could potentially develop into a crisis. Global dynamics already show that food is not only a commodity, but also functions as an instrument of power. Therefore, domestic nutrition security is closely connected with Indonesia’s position and bargaining capacity within the global system.
The MBG program is currently at a strategic crossroads. On one side, it has considerable potential to improve nutrition quality, support better educational outcomes, and contribute to HDI improvement. There are already some early signs showing effects on school enrollment and even local economic activities, although the direct impact on stunting reduction still needs stronger evidence and further assessment.
On the other side, the implementation itself is not simple and brings a number of serious challenges. These range from food distribution issues, food security concerns, up to coordination between institutions and consistency of regulations. Because of that, efficient bureaucracy and accountable governance become very important factors for the program’s success.
Governing Nutrition
In this regard, governance problems cannot be ignored. The naming of the former head of the National Nutrition Agency as a corruption suspect shows that weaknesses are not only found in policy formulation, but also in how the policy is executed in practice. This situation affects not only the effectiveness of the program domestically, but also Indonesia’s credibility and reputation at the international level.
Countries that want to improve their HDI, while at the same time trying to play bigger role globally, cannot really ignore the trust dimension. Nutrition programs such as Indonesia’s MBG has become one of the faces of the country itself, and when governance failures happen, it can slowly reduce public trust domestically and also weaken international legitimacy. Even so, the opportunities are still there. Indonesia may use nutrition policy not only as a development instrument, but also as part of diplomacy, which in the end could influence HDI performance and its standing in the global system.
However, this will need consistency and stronger integration between sectors such as education, health, agriculture, and the economic sector. Without a more holistic approach, the results likely remain limited, and many programs may not reach optimal performance. At this stage, nutrition issues are not only reflecting the country’s own capacity, but also helping shape where human development will move in the future, as well as Indonesia’s position on the global stage.
Akhmad Hanan is an independent Indonesian researcher specialising in geopolitics and energy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Oceanography from Universitas Diponegoro (UNDIP) and a Master’s in Energy Security from Universitas Pertahanan (UNHAN) – the Indonesian Defence University.
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