Over Half of Population Unable to Consume Nutritious Food

More than half of the Indonesian population, around 183.7 million people or 68 percent, are incapable of meeting daily nutritional needs.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Various fresh vegetables at the traditional market located under Plaza Baru Borobudur, Ciledug, Tangerang City, Banten, Friday (6/5/2022). More than half of the Indonesian population, are incapable of meeting daily nutritional needs.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Kompas daily data journalism team has calculated that the cost for Indonesians to buy nutritionally balanced or healthy food at Rp 22,126 per day (US$ 1.42) or Rp 663,791 per month. The price is based on the nutritional composition standard of the Healthy Diet Basket (HDB), which is applied by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). At this cost, 68 percent or 183.7 million of Indonesians cannot afford to pay the nutritional price.

Another calculation in this analysis is based on the World Bank standard, fixing the cost of food at the maximum of 52 percent of the family’s total spending. In order to determine the amount of nutritionally balanced food, this analysis uses the food price calculator application developed by the research team of Food Prices for Nutrition from Tufts University, the United States. Balanced nutrition means a diet with balanced portions of staple food (source of carbohydrate), dishes (sources of protein and fat), vegetables and fruit, as well as drinking water.