LOCAL GOVERNMENT POLICY FORMULATION FOR STUNTING REDUCTION BASED ON LOCAL WISDOM: A CONSTRUCTIVIST AND COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE ANALYSIS OF THE MEGOU PAK INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY IN TULANG BAWANG REGENCY

Abstract

This study analyzes the formulation of local government policy for addressing stunting in Tulang Bawang Regency through the integration of the local wisdom value of "Mengan Bangek" within the Megou Pak indigenous community. Although stunting prevalence in the regency declined sharply from 32.49 percent in 2018 to 4.54 percent in 2024, a fundamental challenge persists in harmonizing technocratic medical intervention with socio-cultural practice, including early marriage and shifting caregiving patterns. Using a descriptive qualitative method within a phenomenological approach, the study finds that the community structures and interprets stunting, locally termed "ebah," through everyday experience shaped by an inherited stock of knowledge and a risk perception that diverges from clinical standards. The integration of Mengan Bangek, a communal eating tradition emphasizing togetherness, gratitude, and local nutritional intake, is identified as a strategic vehicle for bridging government bureaucratic language with domestic household practice. The study's novelty lies in a policy model adopting a bottom-up perspective that positions extra-governmental agency, particularly Megou Pak customary leaders, as key actors in policy formulation rather than mere program implementers. Findings indicate that sustainable stunting reduction requires interdisciplinary synergy uniting modern health standards with local wisdom to strengthen social acceptance and household nutritional self-reliance, yielding policy recommendations that are more contextual, participatory, and socially legitimate amid the dynamics of change within the Tulang Bawang indigenous community.