Co-designing blue food transformations in Indonesia

A country of 17,000 islands is at the forefront of a global effort to sustainably feed billions of people in the coming decades. Indonesia has long relied on its rich yet increasingly stressed marine ecosystems for blue foods – fish, shellfish, seaweed, and aquatic plants – which play a vital role in supporting nutrition and livelihoods, even as challenges like overfishing and malnutrition persist. The country is therefore well-positioned to pioneer a model for sustainably harnessing the ocean’s potential while conserving it for future generations.

Stanford’s Center for Ocean Solutions and Center for Human Rights and International Justice are collaborating with the Indonesian government, civil society organizations, and businesses to co-design research and solutions that can help Indonesia capitalize on the potential of blue foods to improve nutrition, food security, and livelihoods, particularly for populations that have historically been marginalized. The effort builds on research generated by the global Blue Food Assessment to tailor an assessment for Indonesia.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2023 with Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas), the Center for Ocean Solutions has helped the ministry integrate blue foods into the country’s national development plan and produce a national blue food assessment. 

As part of the assessment, Center researchers authored reports on nutrition, justice, and the environment. Report findings will help Bappenas leverage commonly produced and consumed blue foods to address malnutrition, assess coastal impacts of aquaculture, and address social and economic disparities that currently limit access to blue foods.

The complete Blue Food Assessment Indonesia was launched on August 6, 2025. Access the full report here and watch a recording of the launch event. 

Indonesia’s President Prabowo, who took office in October 2024, has made food and nutrition security a top priority, establishing a new national nutrition agency, Badan Gizi Nasional, and launching a nationwide free nutritious meals program that aims to provide daily healthy meals to 62 million school children. Project collaborators are working with Bappenas and Badan Gizi Nasional to generate and curate the information they need to bring blue foods into this program, which aims to reduce malnutrition and alleviate poverty while reducing environmental impacts. Researchers will also work with both ministries to develop guidance and tools that they can provide to implementers, including provincial and local governments and the 3,000 nutritionists they plan to deploy to work with every village across the country.

The collaboration with Bappenas presented an opportunity to involve Stanford students in research efforts. The Center for Ocean Solutions led the teaching and development of an interdisciplinary course Blue Foods for Indonesia: A Human & Planetary Health Action Lab, which was offered through the Stanford Law School and the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

Structured as two courses during winter and spring quarters, students from across campus developed policy reports based on topics of interest to Bappenas such as gender equity in the blue food sector, opportunities to implement sustainably sourced feed ingredients in aquaculture feeds, and the potential of blue foods to address nutritional challenges. The students presented scientific findings and examples of how other countries have approached blue food issues to Bappenas and other Indonesian collaborators.

Project collaborators

• Stanford Center for Human Rights and International Justice
• Stanford Center on Food Security and the Environment
• Stanford Prevention Research Center
• Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative
• Indonesian Institute for Independent Judiciary
• Bogor Agricultural University (IPB)
• Bappenas (Ministry of National Development Planning)
• Badan Gizi Nasional (National Nutrition Agency)