ABSTRACT Adequate nutrition for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers plays a crucial role in preventing stunting during the first 1,000 days of life. The Indonesian government, through the Free Nutritious Meal Program, seeks to provide nutritious food to these vulnerable groups by involving community health cadres as distribution implementers at the community level. However, the distribution process and information dissemination still rely heavily on WhatsApp groups, which creates several challenges, including unorganized information flow, difficulty in retrieving important messages, and delays in receiving information among beneficiaries. This condition indicates the absence of a structured communication system to support effective information management within the program. This study aims to analyze the need for developing a nutritious food distribution application for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers based on the experiences of cadres and program beneficiaries. The study employed a descriptive qualitative approach with purposive sampling. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and documentation, and analyzed using the interactive analysis model of Miles and Huberman. The findings reveal the need for a dedicated application that facilitates direct communication between cadres and beneficiaries, distribution schedule notifications, options for food collection methods, centralized information delivery from administrators, and user satisfaction surveys. The development of such a digital application has the potential to enhance communication effectiveness, information transparency, and the efficiency of MBG program management at the community level. ABSTRAK Pemenuhan gizi bagi ibu hamil, ibu menyusui, dan balita merupakan faktor penting dalam mencegah stunting pada periode 1000 Hari Pertama Kehidupan. Pemerintah Indonesia melalui program Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG) berupaya menyediakan makanan bergizi bagi kelompok rentan dengan melibatkan kader sebagai pelaksana distribusi di tingkat masyarakat. Namun, pelaksanaan distribusi dan penyampaian informasi program masih bergantung pada grup WhatsApp yang menimbulkan berbagai kendala, seperti informasi yang tidak terorganisasi, kesulitan menelusuri pesan penting, serta keterlambatan penerimaan informasi oleh sebagian penerima manfaat. Kondisi ini menunjukkan perlunya sistem komunikasi yang lebih terstruktur untuk mendukung pengelolaan informasi program secara efektif. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kebutuhan pengembangan aplikasi distribusi makanan bergizi bagi ibu hamil, ibu menyusui, dan balita berdasarkan pengalaman kader dan penerima manfaat program MBG. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif deskriptif dengan teknik purposive sampling. Data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara, observasi, dan dokumentasi, kemudian dianalisis menggunakan model analisis interaktif Miles dan Huberman. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kader dan penerima manfaat membutuhkan aplikasi khusus yang mampu memfasilitasi komunikasi langsung, notifikasi jadwal distribusi, pilihan metode pengambilan bantuan, penyampaian informasi terpusat dari admin, serta fitur survei kepuasan pengguna. Temuan ini menunjukkan bahwa pengembangan aplikasi distribusi berbasis digital berpotensi meningkatkan efektivitas komunikasi, transparansi informasi, dan efisiensi pengelolaan program MBG di tingkat masyarakat
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