Malnutrition and nutrition insecurity remain pressing challenges in Singapore and Indonesia, two of DBS’ core markets. In Singapore, a 2020 study of 1,206 households found that 10.4% of households experienced food insecurity at least once in the preceding 12 months. In Indonesia, the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey reported that 21.5% of children under five were stunted and 8.5% were wasted. These challenges disproportionately affect underprivileged and vulnerable communities, limiting access to nutritious food, health information and resources needed to sustain healthy diets across life stages. Good nutrition is fundamental to physical and mental wellbeing, supporting healthy development, stronger immunity, disease prevention and long-term resilience from pregnancy and early childhood through to older age.
In response, DBS Foundation committed SGD 20 million to uplift the nutrition and health of 48,040 vulnerable beneficiaries across Singapore and Indonesia. Through strategic partnerships with community partners, supported by our employee volunteers known as DBS’ People of Purpose, we support beneficiaries across life stages, from pregnant mothers and young children to farmers and seniors, recognising that nutrition is foundational to healthy ageing and wellbeing throughout life. Our goal is to reduce daily vulnerabilities by improving access to nutrition, improve stability by strengthening nutrition knowledge, enhancing food security, and sustaining positive behavioural change in dietary habits and achieve better physical health outcomes for vulnerable communities, including birth outcomes, nutritional status and reduced anaemia levels.
DBS Foundation's approach was shaped by years of working with vulnerable communities across Asia. Our experience showed that poor nutrition can affect individuals at every stage of life, from pregnancy and early childhood through to older age. This informed our life-course approach, which supports beneficiaries across generations, recognising that improving nutrition early in life lays the foundation for healthier ageing and better long-term wellbeing outcomes. Through partnerships in Singapore and Indonesia, we support pregnant mothers, young children, farmers and seniors, enabling every person at every stage of life to age with dignity, purpose and joy.
We also learnt that addressing malnutrition sustainably requires more than providing food alone. While immediate nutritional support is critical to reduce daily stressors and vulnerabilities, lasting impact requires individuals and communities to have the knowledge, skills and confidence to make healthier choices over time. This led to our "From Relief to Resilience" approach, which combines access to nutrition with capability building. For example, children in Indonesia receive healthy daily school meals, while vulnerable seniors in Singapore receive weekly healthy communal meals and healthy grocery support. Beyond access, we invest in education and capacity building, including training school leaders and government stakeholders on nutrition education, school meal planning, and providing technical assistance on healthy school meals delivery. Seniors are equipped with practical nutrition knowledge through workshops, cooking activities and monthly nutrition tips that reinforce healthier dietary habits.
A further lesson from our past work was that nutrition outcomes are often influenced by broader social, economic and health challenges. As such, we designed programmes that provide holistic support tailored to the needs of each beneficiary group. For lower-income mothers and families, nutrition support is complemented by mental wellbeing and financial literacy education to strengthen overall family resilience and support positive child development outcomes. For farmers and their families in Indonesia, nutrition interventions are integrated with climate-smart agriculture training and financial literacy education to improve farm productivity and financial resilience.
To co-create and implement these programmes, we partnered organisations with deep local expertise and trusted community networks. In Singapore, KidSTART Singapore supports families in early childhood development and maternal and child wellbeing, while 42 Active Ageing Centres provide community-based touchpoints to engage and support vulnerable seniors. In Indonesia, UNICEF Indonesia brings extensive expertise in child nutrition and education, while Yayasan Humanis dan Inovasi Sosial (Humanis) works closely with farming communities to strengthen nutrition, livelihoods and resilience. Together, these partners helped tailor interventions to local needs and ensure effective delivery on the ground.
Finally, our experience has shown that meaningful nutrition and health outcomes require time to take root. Building knowledge, changing behaviours and strengthening community capabilities cannot be achieved through one-off interventions. As such, these programmes are designed with a two- to three-year implementation horizon, enabling sustained engagement with beneficiaries and partners, reinforcing positive behaviours, strengthening local systems and creating the conditions for lasting improvements in nutrition, health and wellbeing. The longer-term commitment reflects our belief that resilience is built over time, not through short-term support alone.
Our programmes are designed with a two- to three-year implementation horizon because meaningful improvements in nutrition, health and behaviour take time to achieve. Of the four programmes under this initiative, three commenced in 2025 and one began in 2026. As such, longer-term outcomes and impact are still being built over time.
Despite being in the early stages of implementation, the programmes have already delivered meaningful reach. Across the first year of operations for three programmes, DBS Foundation supported 11,053 beneficiaries, including pregnant mothers, children, farmers, families and seniors in Singapore and Indonesia. These beneficiaries received nutrition support, education and other interventions designed to reduce daily vulnerabilities and improve wellbeing.
Early results demonstrate encouraging progress towards our objectives. Under the programme, partnering Humanis, in Indonesia, 100% of trained village champions improved their knowledge of family nutrition and food diversification, while 82% of trained farmers reported improved access to nutrition education and support, and 82% demonstrated improved nutrition knowledge after training. Beyond nutrition, 94% improved their knowledge of climate-smart agriculture, gender equality and financial management practices, helping to strengthen food security and long-term resilience. These outcomes show progress in improving access and knowledge, reducing vulnerabilities and strengthening stability.
Beyond beneficiaries, we mobilised 8,878 DBS employees and their family members through our DBS People of Purpose movement, contributing 33,590 volunteer hours to support communities across Singapore and Indonesia through these programmes, further amplify the programmes' reach and impact and strengthen community development