The Chinese government will support the funding of the Free Nutritious Meals (FNM) program for schoolchildren in Indonesia.
This was formalized through a memorandum of understanding between the Chinese and Indonesian governments, titled *Food Supplementation and School Feeding Programme in Indonesia*.
"Yes, they [the Chinese government] will support it because they have also implemented nutritious meals," said Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, as reported by *Tempo.co* on Monday (November 11, 2024).
International funding cooperation for free school meal programs is quite common.
According to World Food Programme (WFP) data, in 2022 alone, 30 countries had implemented such programs.
The country receiving the largest international donation for free school meal programs was Ethiopia, with US$32.4 million in 2022.
Other countries receiving significant funding include Niger, Togo, Chad, Sudan, Burundi, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, and Benin, as shown in the graph.
Recipients of international donations for this program are generally low-income countries.
"Domestic funding is the primary source of funding for school feeding programs in many countries, except for low-income countries where international donors remain the main investors," said the WFP in its report, *State of School Feeding Worldwide 2022*.