The Partnership for Child Development (PCD) based at Imperial College London, has launched a new initiative that will support government action to deliver cost effective school feeding programmes sourced from local farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
The project will engage with a wide range of stakeholders to promote agricultural development by using locally-produced food for school feeding – providing regular orders and a reliable income for smallholder farmers, whilst also improving the education, health, and nutrition of local children.
An IDS team, led by Dr Rachel Sabates Wheeler,and Dr Stephen Devereux, are leading the research component of the five year programme, and will provide direct,evidence-based and context-specific support and expertise to governments to design and manage school feeding programmes sourced with local agricultural production.
The current food, fuel and financial crises have highlighted the importance of school feeding programs both as a social safety net for children living in poverty and food insecurity, and as part of national educational policies and plans. Appropriately designed school feeding programmes have been shown to increase access to education and learning, and improve children’s health and nutrition, especially when integrated into comprehensive school health and nutrition programmes (Bundy et al 2009).
The project will examine country readiness and key operational trade-offs, benchmarks, and good practice, analysing how Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) can most effectively stimulate local agricultural production, boost local and regional food production and create jobs and profit-making opportunities in rural communities.
Further HGSF reading
- Bundy, D., Burbano, C., Grosh, M., Gelli, A., Jukes, M. and Drake, L. 2009. “Rethinking School Feeding: Social Safety Nets, Child Development and the Education Sector“. Directions in Development, World Bank, Washington DC.
- Espejo F, Burbano C, and Galliano E. 2009. “Home-grown school feeding: A framework for action” (pdf). United Nations World Food Programme, Rome.
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