PILOTING AIR-FRIED SNACKS TO REDUCE UNHEALTHY FOOD CONSUMPTION IN JAKARTA, INDONESIA
- 02/04/2026
In Indonesia, over 98% of households have food budgets sufficient to purchase a healthy diet, yet most allocate a substantial share of their spending to discretionary foods such as fried snacks and sugary drinks. The challenge is therefore not one of financial access to healthy food, but of how existing food budgets are allocated. This paper documents a proof-of-concept pilot in Jakarta that tested whether Indonesia's ubiquitous deep-fried street snacks, gorengan, could be transformed into healthier air-fried alternatives, examining both consumer acceptance and business model viability.
Building Nutrition-Sensitive Social Protection in Indonesia: How Partnerships Turned Evidence to Action
Indonesia has made impressive strides in improving nutrition since 2013, with reduction in stunting, undernourishment, and wasting, reflecting strong commitment from the government, development partners, and civil society. Yet progress remains uneven. Anaemia among pregnant women has declined far more slowly, leaving Indonesia nearly 17 percentage points short of the global target. Data from the recent Micronutrient Gap Analysis (MGA) conducted by GAIN reveal that while wealthier households achieve adequate micronutrient intake, the poorest quintile still falls below recommended levels for nearly all essential nutrients. This means millions of Indonesians—especially women and children—are still not receiving the nutrients they need to thrive.
Jack Bean Tempeh Enhanced Resilience of Aceh Food Systems During Disasters
By the end of 2025, The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of Indonesia recorded extreme rainfall, with intensities reaching 300–500 mm per month, occurring in 3 provinces in Sumatra. Indonesia is facing a combination of relatively complex atmospheric dynamics, including the active Asian Monsoon, the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO), atmospheric waves, the formation of tropical cyclone seeds and tropical cyclones, as well as the influence of a weak La Niña and a negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). These conditions increased rainfall intensity, particularly from mid-December 2025 to early January 2026.
GAIN Working Paper n°62: Alternative Sources to Improve Sustainability and Resilience of Tempeh Supply Chains
- 13/02/2026
Tempeh is a popular traditional plant-based protein that plays a vital role in Indonesian diets. Indonesia’s reliance on imported soybeans (2.6 million tons/year) for tempeh production, however, creates market instability and food vulnerabilities, particularly regarding cost and supply fluctuations. This paper analyses the technical, economic, and market feasibility of alternative legumes—specifically, jack beans, mung beans, and peanuts—as sustainable substitutes for soybeans in tempeh production. The aim is to identify the most viable option for immediate scale-up to support local food systems and improve nutritional outcomes.
GAIN Working Paper n°61: Small fish: An Untapped Opportunity for Improving Nutrition
- 06/02/2026
Fish offer a potentially sustainable solution to food security and nutrition challenges in Indonesia. Despite abundant aquatic resources, per capita fish consumption remains lower than in neighbouring countries. Factors such as overfishing, pollution, and unsustainable aquaculture practices limit growth, while climate change poses additional threats to fish stocks.
A New Small Fish Restocking Model Projects 20x Production Improvement in Indonesia
As an archipelagic nation, Indonesia ranks third globally in fisheries and aquaculture production. Despite these abundant, nutrient-rich aquatic resources, the country still faces significant malnutrition challenges stemming from insufficient intake of protein, micronutrients, and essential fatty acids. In 2021, the average per capita fish consumption in Indonesia reached 25.33 kg, notably lower than Malaysia (52.7 kg), a nation with fewer resources (KKP, World Population Review). This disparity highlights the gap between resources availability and dietary outcomes.
Shaping Food Culture Together: Lessons from Jakarta’s Walking Tour
Jakarta moves fast. So do its appetites. Over the past five years, Indonesia’s food landscape has shifted further towards convenience and high-risk options, moving away from diets that are nourishing and environmentally grounded. Indonesia Health Survey 2023 tells the story in numbers: high-fat foods consumption rose from 58.5% in 2018 to 60.7% in 2023; salty foods jumped from 40.3% to 52.2%; and instant noodles climbed from 45% to 51.7%. Meanwhile, adequate vegetable intake (five portions per day) fell from 4.6% to 3.3%.
Four Pathways for Climate – Nutrition integration in Indonesian policies
Why Climate and Nutrition Integration Matters? Climate change is not just an environmental issue; it intersects with systemic multiple aspects of human life. It interlinks the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to end hunger and poverty, preserve the environment, and ensure prosperity. In practice, climate change worsens hunger and hidden hunger as its increasing disasters, declining agricultural harvest and productivity, and threatening crop nutrition.