In the heart of eastern Indonesia, Papua stands at a critical intersection of economic empowerment and social welfare. Behind the lush hills, remote villages, and abundant agricultural potential, two crucial agendas are converging—improving nutrition for the next generation and stabilizing food prices to safeguard economic resilience.
These two objectives are embodied in the recent calls made by the Majelis Rakyat Papua (MRP) and Bank Indonesia (BI) Papua Barat. The MRP has urged the government to ensure that local Papuan food becomes the main ingredient in the Free Nutritious Meal (Makan Bergizi Gratis/MBG) program. Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia has been campaigning for the cultivation of local crops and sustainable farming practices as a means to control inflation and build food self-sufficiency.
Together, these efforts signal a paradigm shift—one that views local agriculture not merely as a cultural heritage but as a strategic foundation for welfare, education, and economic stability in Papua.
The MRP’s Vision: Local Food for Local Growth
The Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program is one of Indonesia’s flagship initiatives designed to improve child nutrition, attendance, and learning performance. However, the MRP insists that for Papua, the program must go beyond feeding children—it must also feed the local economy.
According to MRP Chairperson Nerlince Wamuar Rollo, several MBG-implementing foundations have been sourcing their food supplies from outside Papua, bypassing local farmers who are more than capable of meeting the region’s nutritional needs. “If MBG foundations buy directly from our local farming groups, it would not only reduce costs but also empower our own farmers,” Rollo explained in a recent statement.
The MRP argues that Papua possesses a wealth of local food varieties that are both nutritious and culturally relevant. Cassava, taro, sweet potatoes (petatas), sago, and local vegetables have long sustained Papuan communities. These ingredients can easily become staples in MBG menus—ensuring that the meals are not just healthy but also connected to the region’s identity.
Encouraging the use of these local ingredients means money circulates within the community. When local farmers, fishermen, and women’s groups (Kelompok Wanita Tani) become suppliers, the economic benefits stay within Papua. This approach strengthens the provincial economy, builds trust between producers and institutions, and helps develop a sustainable local food system that can support both welfare and growth.
Bank Indonesia’s Economic Mission: Stabilizing Prices Through Local Crops
While the MRP focuses on welfare and empowerment, Bank Indonesia’s mission aligns on the macroeconomic front—ensuring that inflation, especially food inflation, remains under control.
In October 2025, BI Papua Barat launched the “Torang Locavore 2025” initiative, highlighting the theme “Strengthening Local Food Resilience as a Strategy for Regional Inflation Control.” This initiative reflects a growing awareness that the roots of inflation in Papua often lie in dependence on imported food products from other provinces. High transportation costs, long supply chains, and seasonal disruptions frequently lead to price spikes.
According to BI Papua Barat Deputy Head Arif Rahadian, the key to long-term price stability lies in local food cultivation. “We must encourage people to produce what they consume,” he said, underscoring the importance of community-level farming. BI has since introduced training programs, digital agriculture tools, and community gardens designed to help households, schools, and smallholders grow key commodities that often trigger inflation, such as chili, onions, and vegetables.
The “PETATAS 2025” program, another BI initiative, trains local farmers to adopt digital and Internet-of-Things (IoT)-based farming methods while encouraging value-added processing—turning raw produce into marketable products. This initiative aims not only to boost productivity but also to build resilience against external shocks. By cultivating more food locally, Papua can gradually reduce its reliance on imports from Java or Sulawesi, where price fluctuations often affect the eastern provinces.
Two Strategies, One Vision: Linking Nutrition to Inflation Stability
The alignment between the MRP and Bank Indonesia might appear coincidental, but in reality, it forms a powerful and coherent vision. Both institutions understand that economic health and human development cannot be separated.
When local farmers supply produce for the MBG program, they gain steady income and market certainty. Schools, in turn, receive a consistent supply of fresh, affordable ingredients. Meanwhile, as production rises, the local food supply becomes more resilient—reducing dependence on outside goods and helping stabilize regional inflation.
This cycle demonstrates a win-win model:
- For children, it means better nutrition and improved learning outcomes.
- For farmers, it ensures fair prices and a guaranteed market.
- For the economy, it curbs inflation and strengthens local food systems.
In short, by connecting the dots between local agriculture, food policy, and price stability, Papua is crafting a development framework that integrates welfare and economics in a uniquely practical way.
Challenges on the Ground: Turning Policy into Practice
However, the journey toward realizing this synergy is far from simple. Papua’s geographical isolation and infrastructural limitations pose serious challenges. Many rural farmers still rely on traditional methods with limited access to technology, modern seeds, or irrigation. Logistics remain costly and complex—transporting perishable goods from villages to schools or urban markets often takes hours, if not days.
To make local food sourcing viable for the MBG program, procurement systems must adapt. Instead of buying from large distributors outside Papua, implementing foundations must build relationships with local cooperatives and farming groups. This may require revising tender systems, training farmers in quality standards, and developing small cold-chain or storage facilities to maintain freshness and safety.
Food quality and safety are equally important. The MBG program must ensure that locally sourced meals meet national nutrition and hygiene standards. To this end, MRP has suggested close monitoring and cooperation between the National Food and Nutrition Agency (Badan Gizi Nasional) and local governments to help farmer groups meet these benchmarks.
On the inflation front, BI’s challenge lies in scaling up participation. While community farming programs have taken root in districts like Manokwari and Nabire, expanding them to Papua’s highlands requires substantial resources, consistent technical assistance, and reliable infrastructure. Nevertheless, BI’s ongoing collaboration with regional governments, schools, and local cooperatives is laying a foundation for steady progress.
Cultural and Economic Significance of Local Food
Beyond economics, the push for local food has deep cultural meaning in Papua. For generations, traditional staples such as sago, taro, and sweet potato have been the backbone of Papuan diets, intertwined with rituals, identity, and heritage.
Reviving these crops in modern programs like MBG not only supports nutrition but also preserves cultural pride. Children learn to value their traditional foods; local communities rediscover their connection to the land. By promoting Papua local food as part of public nutrition and inflation strategies, the government sends a message that development does not mean abandoning identity—it means building on it.
This cultural angle also appeals to global trends emphasizing “locavore” lifestyles and sustainability. When local ingredients dominate menus, carbon footprints are reduced, communities grow stronger, and food security becomes locally owned rather than externally dependent.
Sowing the Seeds of Self-Reliance
Looking ahead, both the MRP and BI agree that Papua’s transformation must begin from the ground up—literally. Encouraging households, schools, and communities to cultivate their own food will be key to achieving long-term self-reliance.
The next steps could include integrating agricultural education into school curricula, expanding digital farming assistance, and developing regional food hubs to streamline the connection between farmers and institutional buyers like schools and hospitals.
If these policies are implemented effectively, Papua could become a national model for how local agriculture can drive both human development and economic resilience. It would prove that food grown in the village can feed not just the family but the entire future of a province.
Conclusion
The collaboration between the Majelis Rakyat Papua and Bank Indonesia Papua Barat represents a new model of integrated development—one where economic policy meets social welfare, and cultural identity meets modern innovation.
Every plate of Free Nutritious Meals filled with local Papuan produce tells a story: a story of empowerment, sustainability, and resilience. Each cassava, chili, or taro root planted in the soil is not just food—it’s a promise of independence from volatile markets and a step toward controlling inflation through self-sufficiency.
As Papua moves forward, its journey from farm to classroom may well define the future of inclusive growth in Indonesia’s eastern frontier. When children eat food grown by their own communities, they don’t just taste nutrition—they taste the strength and pride of a land building its prosperity from within.
