Fragmented by Design: A Maqasid Analysis of Stunting Eradication Policy in West Sumatra

Abstract

The persistent, and recently rising, stunting rate in West Sumatra, Indonesia, from 23.3 percent in 2021 to 24.9 percent in 2024, still above the national average of 19.8 percent, signals a failure of current policy approaches rather than of national commitment. Most Indonesian stunting research explains this persistence through household-level determinants such as sanitation, maternal education, and feeding practices, leaving the design of the policies themselves under-examined. This study addresses that gap by treating policy design, not household behavior, as the object of analysis. Its contribution is methodological: it applies Jasser Auda's seven-element Maqasid Framework, concepts, purposes, values, commands, universal laws, groups, and proofs, for the first time as a diagnostic instrument for subnational stunting governance in a Muslim-majority, customary (adat) society, rather than as a purely normative or theological tool. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork in Solok and West Pasaman districts, document analysis of local regulations and in-depth interviews and observations with policymakers, health cadres, and community members, the study maps local stunting policies onto the seven Maqasid elements and finds a systemic lack of synergy among them: technically narrow concepts detached from a shared higher purpose, marginalized Minangkabau customary leadership (tungku tigo sajarangan), and implementation reduced to bureaucratic routine. The study concludes that meaningful progress requires reorienting stunting governance from fragmented, target-driven administration toward purpose-driven, culturally embedded policy design, positioning the Maqasid Framework as a transferable diagnostic and design tool for comparable development challenges.