Southwest Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara — Behind the nutritious meals now served daily to hundreds of schoolchildren and pregnant women across Southwest Sumba lies a quiet revival of the local economy. The Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program, run by the Nutritional Services Unit (Satuan Pelayanan Pemenuhan Gizi or SPPG) Tambolaka, is doing more than just improving health—it’s fueling local livelihoods and generating employment for surrounding communities.
Christian Chandralitya Reski Leteboro, Head of SPPG Tambolaka, emphasized that all ingredients used in the program’s kitchen are sourced locally.
“All the food we serve comes from local ingredients,” he said during an interview this week. “That means we rely on local farmers, livestock breeders, and small-scale business owners here in Southwest Sumba for everything we cook in the SPPG kitchen.”
More than a logistical decision, Christian called this a deliberate empowerment strategy.
“As much as possible, we source from within the district capital. If that’s not feasible, we look to the broader Southwest Sumba region,” he explained. While he acknowledged the ongoing challenges of securing large-scale vegetable supplies, he sees this as an opportunity to work with village governments and agricultural offices to motivate farmers and rebuild their confidence in farming.
Today, those farmers have a guaranteed buyer: the SPPG kitchen.
“With the SPPG kitchens in place, local farmers and breeders know there is a stable market for their crops and livestock,” Christian added.
The ripple effects go further. The kitchen has also created dozens of jobs for locals.
“We now have 47 staff members working in the Tambolaka SPPG kitchen, all of them local residents,” Christian said. “Even our nutritionists and accountants are from the community.”
Suppliers of vegetables, eggs, and chicken also come from local businesses. While not all can yet meet demand at scale, the SPPG team is committed to keeping the economic cycle within the district.
Looking ahead, Christian expressed hope that the MBG program can evolve into a true engine of rural development.
“Our hope is that this nutritious meal program can help drive the local economy forward—especially for our communities,” he said. “We want the program’s budget to circulate within the region so that the local economy can grow and lift families out of extreme poverty.”
Plans are already in motion.
“We’re working on engagement strategies with key local stakeholders, especially the regional government,” Christian noted. “We want to ensure that this program genuinely empowers our farmers and communities.”
In Southwest Sumba, the MBG program is more than just free meals. It is a story of shared effort—from farmers to kitchen staff, and from kitchen to the plates of children and expectant mothers—powered by a simple yet powerful local spirit: helping one another to grow stronger, together.
