Advocacy on Combating Hunger: Political Will of the Kedunggebang Village Government to Implement Banyuwangi Tanggap Stunting Programs in 2022

Accelerating stunting reduction is a government policy priority supported by all local governments in Indonesia. Banyuwangi Regency has the Banyuwangi Tanggap Stunting (BTS) Program as innovative program to reduce stunting rates, which must be supported by all village governments in Banyuwangi Regency. The success of the policy must begin with the Political Will of the village government to support the implementation of policies in the villages. In this context, Kedunggebang Village, Tegaldlimo District, implements the BTS program through cross-sectoral synergy and massive counselling to the people at Kedunggebang Village. The purpose of this study is to describe the Political Will of the Kedunggebang village government to support the BTS project, and obstacles in its implementation. This research uses qualitative descriptive methods through in-depth interview techniques and is analyzed using Brinkerhoff theory (1999) as an analytical instrument. The novelty of this research is a multidisciplinary study that examines public health issues using the perspective of public policy and government bureaucracy. The results of this study show that the Kedunggebang Village Government has low Political Will, but is able to implement the BTS program. So there is a need for bureaucratic reform in the form of village regulation legislation, preparation of village development plans, and organizing a task force to accelerate stunting reduction.