Local approaches and ineffectivity in reducing stunting in children: A case study of policy in Indonesia

Background: Stunting is a global issue. Indonesia has to cope with this stunting issue very seriously because it has the highest number among Southeast Asian countries and is included in the countries with the highest number of stunting sufferers in the world. One of the important points that requires intervention is to fulfill the nutrition of both the pregnant women and children under the age of five. Policy and implications: The central government has issued the national policy to prevent stunting in children and determined the national and regional parties in charge of the program. The government commitment is shown through the fund allocation arrangement for village development aimed to prevent and overcome stunting. Theoretically, it all seemed to be conducted according to each responsibility of the parties in charge. However, the effort is generally still bureaucratic, in a form of campaign, and has not solved the issue of fulfilling nutrition at the local level. Recommendations: Based on field experience and literature, the goal to reduce stunting significantly will be achievable if local approaches are applied. The local issue on nutrition intake can be intervened specifically by applying local approaches in understanding the community consumption behavior pattern and delivering education on nutrition. The government should abandon a too-generic approach (one-size-fits-all) which has been used so far. Conclusion: Intervention of nutrition intake through local approaches is crucial considering that stunting prevalence is still very high. As the organization for the program to prevent stunting is supported by fund allocation, in the future the government should encourage local intervention efforts through the cooperation with higher education, local non-governmental organisations, or partners that understand local context more on nutrition issues in respective regions. To observe this, stunting prevention in Indonesia should develop more local approaches in campaign material and education to local society.