Executive Summary Global Child Nutrition Forum: …docs.schoolnutrition.org/files/GCNF/2007 GCNF - Exec...NO WAY DOES GLOBAL CHILD NUTRITION FORUM, SCHOOL NUTRITION ASSOCIATION, OR

Executive Summary Global Child Nutrition Forum: School Feeding Development Conference July 12-17, 2007 Chicago, Illinois USA

“Partnering Globally for Nutrition and Learning”

© 2007 GCNF. All rights reserved. Created for GCNF by:

School Feeding Development Conference July 12-16, 2007 Partnering Globally for Nutrition and Learning Chicago, IL

© 2007 GCNF. All rights reserved. Created for GCNF by:

Table of Contents Summaries of Selected Sessions from the 2007 GCNF

Summary Session Title Speaker Page

1 Global Perspectives on School Feeding

Jose Antonio Castillo United Nations World Food Programme

2

2 The Link Between Nutrition and Learning Ronald E. Kleinman, M.D. Harvard Medical School

4

3 The Link Between the UN Millennium Development Goals and School Feeding

The Honorable James Morris United Nations World Food Programme

6

4 Building Sustainable School Feeding Programs Kobus De Klerk The Solae Company, LLC

7

5 Status of School Feeding: Country Reports Ethiopia Honduras Kenya Mali Pakistan

9 10 11 11 12

6 Government Commitment and Capacity through Partnerships

Stan Garnett United States Department of Agriculture

14

7 Community Commitment and Capacity through Partnerships

Cathy Schuchart School Nutrition Association

16

8 Country Case Study—Brazil Model Universal School Feeding: A National Commitment

Daniel Balaban National Educational Development

17

9 Country Case Study—Jamaica Model National Policy: A Work in Progress

Patricia Thompson, M.Sc. National Food and Nutrition Coordinating Committee of Jamaica

18

10 Delegates Report: Country Development Plans Mali Ethiopia Honduras Pakistan Kenya

20 21 21 21 22

THESE SUMMARIES REFLECT BULLSEYE RESOURCES, INC.’S SUBJECTIVE CONDENSED SUMMARIZATION OF THE APPLICABLE SESSIONS FROM THE GLOBAL CHILD NUTRITION FORUM. THERE MAY BE MATERIAL ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR INACCURACIES IN THE REPORTING OF THE SUBSTANCE OF THE SESSIONS. IN NO WAY DOES GLOBAL CHILD NUTRITION FORUM, SCHOOL NUTRITION ASSOCIATION, OR BULLSEYE RESOURCES, INC. ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN, OR FOR ANY DECISIONS MADE BASED UPON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT.


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Global Perspectives on School Feeding ■ Speaker: Jose Antonio Castillo, Programme Officer, United Nations World Food Programme

The Big Idea The economic problems that poor countries face are linked to mal-nutrition and lack of education. The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) is focused on addressing these problems, with Food for Education (FFE) as one key strategy. The expectation is that FFE can improve student health, education, and society. A key to FFE is making it sustainable, which requires government commitment and community participation.

Quick Summary Malnutrition, health problems, and lack of education are enor-

mous problems that are interrelated.

The WFP’s FFE program aims to use school feeding to pro-duce improved educational, nutritional, and societal outcomes.

For FFE to be sustained long term requires its being “owned” by the country and community.

Context Mr. Castillo gave an overview of the current state of school feeding programs around the world, describing the characteristics of suc-cessful programs and detailing the ongoing challenges for those who want to improve childhood nutrition.

Key Points The problems of malnutrition, poor health, and lack of

education are interrelated. These problems are both caused by poverty and a consequence of poverty. They are part of a vicious cycle. Malnourished child-ren become adults with limited opportunities and capacities, and in turn have malnourished children of their own.

“Such a cycle undermines human and economic development.” ⎯ Jose Antonio Castillo

The scope of malnutrition is enormous. An estimated 300 million children are chronically hungry, and 48 million of them are not served by any type of interventions. Research shows that malnourished children between 0 to 5 years old have impaired brain development, poor health, and death. Malnourishment between 5 and 15 prevents children from getting the benefits of education and is associated with poor health, early pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS. Malnourished children of all ages suffer from malaria, anemia, micro-nutrient deficiencies, and parasite infections.

There is also a profound lack of education. Around the world, 77 million school-aged children are not in school; 49% of these children live in Africa, and 57% of them are girls.

FFE is a priority for the WFP. The Millennium Develop Goals (MDG) focus on addressing the previously stated problems. Among the MDG goals are eradi-cating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, and reducing child mortality. WFP sees two key strategies for integrating food aid with essen-tial actions. These are: 1) from the womb until a child is 5 years old, providing food aid that is integrated with mother and child care; and 2) from ages 6 to 15, providing food aid through Food for Education (FFE). This includes on-site school meals, a take-home ration, and an “Essential Package “for education.

“FFE is a key intervention to achieve education for all and promote school health and nutrition outcomes.” ⎯ Jose Antonio Castillo

Based on data from other interventions, WFP expects FFE to yield educational, nutritional, and social outcomes, such as:

⎯ Educational: WPF expects FFE to lead to enhanced enroll-ment, improvements in regular attendance, reduced dropouts, and improved learning, which includes improved IQs and better academic performance.

⎯ Nutritional: WFP expects FFE to result in prevention of micro-nutrient deficiencies and contribution to better nutrition. This can be achieved, as many FFE programs offer students food (often biscuits) that increases their caloric intake and is forti-fied to provided significant portions of the recommended daily allowances of essential vitamins and nutrients.

⎯ Social: WFP expects FFE to foster local economic develop-ment by providing stable demand for farmers. FFE is also expected to increase community empowerment by becoming a catalyst for community-based organizations, stimulating PTAs (parent-teacher associations) to become involved in FFE management, and providing a platform for school-based health and nutrition initiatives. WFP also expects that FFE will help in emergency situations, providing children with a sense of normalcy that leads to better national resiliency.

WFP experience has identified the conditions for a good FFE program. For those considering or implementing FFE, much learning can be gained from successful programs that have been imple-mented around the world. The conditions for a good FFE include having a program that is well targeted, is nutritionally sound (this means balanced, rich in nutrients, fortified, and uses local food), and is cost controlled. Cost control encompasses efficient pro-curement as well as adequate transport, storage, and prepar-ation. In addition, good FFE programs are well managed, with trained people, involved local communities, and good monitoring and evaluation systems in place. Such programs are also good because they are integrated with other interventions (like FRESH and Essential Package), and they are sustainable. .


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The long-term key to FFE is that it is sustainable. WFP’s goal is that FFE programs should be turned over to countries and communities. WFP thinks of this hand-off as an “exit strategy.” The elements to a successful exit are:

⎯ Government commitment: For FFE to be sustainable, the national government has to be committed to it and FFE must be a priority. This requires high-level commitment and legisla-tion that provides adequate and sustained funding.

“FFE programs have to be part of a national commitment towards education and health as a poverty reduction strategy.” ⎯ Jose Antonio Castillo

National legislation is an important aspect of government commitment. When a school feeding program is supported by legislation, it is likely to be a bigger long-term priority for a country than if it is a project fit into a ministry’s existing port-folio. The force of law makes it more likely to sustain school feeding programs even when the government changes. In addition to funding and regulatory support, legislation lays out a school feeding program’s design and implementation. Finally, it means that there are politicians who have made a commit-ment, and that may last for some time.

⎯ Community commitment: School feeding programs need to be part of the local community to make a long-run difference in childhood nutritional status. A national government doesn’t have the resources to implement school feeding in every community; communities must support school feeding and provide resources for implementation. This includes garnering the support of parents, teachers, and other volunteers.

“Without empowering the community, this program will be difficult to implement.” ⎯ Jose Antonio Castillo

⎯ Home-grown FFE. This means a school feeding program using food that is grown locally. (This provides a double benefit by both supporting education and helping local farmers.) This strategy is recommended to both reduce hunger and address poverty.

⎯ Technical support to develop national capacities. Before exiting, national capacity must be built to sustain school feeding. This includes the proper legislative framework and program management, financial and human resources, and operational expertise.

⎯ Program leadership and communication mechanisms with all stakeholders. For the WFP to exit requires a well-developed infrastructure to coordinate school feeding and to communi-cate with all who are involved.

⎯ Involvement of the private sector. Forming partnerships with the private sector is necessary, as the private sector can both provide funding and help develop the requisite capabilities.

Other Important Points Twenty million. In 2006 WFP programs touched more than

20 million beneficiaries in 71 countries.

UNICEF’s Essential Package. UNICEF considers school nutri-tion as part of an essential package of school services. Other parts of the package include clean water, proper sanitation, a school garden, and a clean school environment.



The Link Between Nutrition and Learning ■ Speaker: Ronald E. Kleinman, M.D., MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Harvard Medical School

The Big Idea Research overwhelmingly shows that nutrition and education are linked and that improved nutrition leads to improved cognitive functioning. Because hunger and food insecurity hamper education, interventions, such as the school feeding program in the US, are needed to address hunger, improve students’ cognitive develop-ment, and aid education.

Quick Summary Although cognition is primarily influenced by genetics, nutri-

tional and environmental factors have great effects.

Malnutrition results in deficiencies in nutrients and vitamins, which significantly affect cognitive development.

Hunger and food insecurity have a direct impact on school attendance and performance.

Improved nutrition leads to better health, which leads to better school attendance, which in turn leads to improved learning.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) are US interventions that are improving students’ environments, supporting good nutrition, encouraging healthy lifestyles, and improving cognitive functioning.

Context Drawing on extensive research, Dr. Kleinman described the link between nutrition and cognition, and the role that school feeding programs play in improving them.

Key Points

In children, cognition is affected by nutritional and environ-mental status. Genetic factors influence cognition, but whether one is at the high or low end of their genetic potential is determined by: 1) nutrition; 2) one’s external environment, including socioeconomic, demographic, and societal factors; and 3) one’s internal environ-ment, including an individual’s health, motivation, and behavior. Nutritional or environmental problems that occur during spurts of development (between birth and age 2, ages 7-9, and during the mid-teenage years) affect the brain’s frontal lobes and can have major consequences. That’s because these areas of the brain are responsible for higher-order cognitive activities such as learning, planning, developing strategies, problem solving, focusing, and memory.

“Cognition is affected by nutritional status throughout childhood and adolescence as the central nervous system develops.” ⎯ Ronald E. Kleinman, M.D.

Severe malnutrition results in multiple deficiencies, each of which affects children’s development. Protein-energy malnutrition has multiple severe cognitive conse-quences, which include a large gap in language scores, lower intelligence quotients, and poorer intersensory perception. Childhood malnutrition also results in iron deficiencies, which can result in anemia. Anemia in infancy can lead to auditory and visual processing problems by age 4, which make it harder for children to socialize and learn. From ages 4-6, anemic children show greater neediness and slower reactions to faces. By 11 through 14, there is little difference between anemic and non-anemic children’s IQs, but anemic children show deficiencies in arithmetic, writing, and motor skills. By age 19, children who are poor and iron-deficient have lower IQs than children whose iron deficiencies had been repaired; that group was close to normal. Zinc deficiencies don’t seem to affect the brain as much as iron ones, but zinc does affect learning. Zinc supplementation appears to have a beneficial role in cognitive development. Zinc is associated with improved motor control and possibly improved cognition, and zinc improves children’s overall health. Diarrhea episodes seem to be reduced with zinc supplementation, which leads to better nutrition and greater school attendance.

Food insecurity has serious consequences for children. Understanding and addressing food insecurity starts with estab-lishing definitions. Hunger is defined as the mental and physical condition that comes from not eating enough food due to insuffic-ient economic, family, or community resources. Food insecurity is the lack of availability, access, and utilization (or use) of food—or the uncertainty about whether one will lack these. One study found that the functional consequences of hunger for school-aged children include more days absent and tardy, and decreased performance, including increased errors and slower memory recall. In addition, research supports that children who are chronically hungry score lower in math and are more likely to repeat a grade, have behavior problems, be hyperactive, and need special education services.

Research in the US has shown that school feeding at breakfast and lunch improves both health and learning. The positive effects of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) In the US demonstrate the relationships between nutrition and both cognition and learning. Started in 1946 and now operating in more than 100,000 schools, NSLP serves 30 million children per year. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to eligible



children. The School Breakfast Program operates in 72,000 schools that serve breakfast for 8.4 million children. Research shows that children who participate in the NSLP have superior nutritional intake compared to those who bring their lunch or who don’t participate. Children at risk for hunger who do not receive breakfast at school are not likely to have breakfast at all, and they have lower test scores. Because of this, many schools are expanding breakfast programs to improve nutrition and academic functioning. Break-fast programs also improve school attendance. Children are most likely to participate if the meal is served in the classroom.

Such food and assistance programs appear to mediate the effects of other risk factors for poor dietary outcomes.

“School feeding programs offer the opportunity to reduce the risk of adverse external environmental factors, support good nutrition, and encourage a healthy lifestyle.” ⎯ Ronald E. Kleinman, M.D.

Interventions to improve nutrition, such as school breakfast and lunch, can improve learning. Researchers have long thought that feeding programs could never fully restore cognition after early childhood malnutrition. Recent studies are encouraging, showing that if improvements in both nutrition and the environment are sustained, then children may be able to recover from the effects of malnutrition.

“If children are nutritionally deprived early on, and if they remain in a poor environment, they won’t do well. If the environment improves, they may do quite well.” ⎯ Ronald E. Kleinman, M.D.

Obesity is increasing in developed countries, and it carries its own health and cognition problems. While many parts of the world struggle with malnutrition, the developed countries are seeing a dramatic increase in the pro-portion of obese and overweight children. In the U.S. the preva-lence of children aged 5 to 11 who are overweight has increased from 15% in the early 1970s to nearly 30% today. With the increase in childhood obesity comes a host of health and psychosocial consequences that affect learning. These in-clude increases in type II diabetes, hypertension, and joint pain. Many obese children suffer from sleep apnea, which makes it hard for them to stay awake in class. In addition, these children have psycho-social issues such as depression, eating disorders, and social isolation, which affect their school performance. What’s unexpected is the finding that 45% of overweight children are at risk of hunger. In many cases, they and their families have erratic food intake and rely on high-energy/low-nutrition food.

Other Important Points Fasting and performance. Research has studied the effects of

short-term fasting to see if students were better off eating before a test or were sharper when a little hungry. In pupils who were well-nourished to start with, eating before an exam had no effect on performance. However, students who were malnourished performed better when they had eaten a small meal first.

Most important meal? Contrary to popular belief, there is no research showing that breakfast or any other meal is the most important one of the day.



The Link Between the UN Millennium Development Goals and School Feeding ■ Speaker: The Honorable James Morris, Former Executive Director, World Food Programme

The Big Idea Improving childhood nutrition can help address all of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but the unfortunate reality is that hunger is not on the agenda in the developed countries.

Quick Summary Malnutrition affects 850 million people, but doesn’t grab head-

lines or generate donor interest like natural disasters.

Each of the UN MDGs is tied to poverty and nutrition, so feed-ing hungry people helps make progress on each of the goals.

People working in food aid must become strong advocates about this cause to educate leaders in the developed world.

Context Mr. Morris provided an overview of the role of school nutrition in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, and described the challenges faced in explaining malnutrition to people in the developed world.

Key Points The world’s attention gets devoted to crises rather than

the chronic problem of malnutrition. There are 850 million malnourished people in the world, with 25,000 dying each day due to lack of food. Although the propor-tion of the world’s population without adequate nutrition is falling, the portion representing children is growing and now includes 150 million children under the age of 5. Yet despite the massive size of this problem, aid money always flows to high-profile situations, like the 2005 tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake. In fact, even the WFP spends a majority of its budget—80%--responding to crises. This tactic saves lives today but doesn’t invest in prevention for the future.

“I am perplexed why the issues we care so deeply about are not more central to the agenda of this country. I’m even more perplexed because I don’t know what to do about it.” ⎯ James Morris

The UN’s Millennium Development Goals call for cutting world poverty in half. Poverty and hunger are intertwined, with malnutrition affecting all of the Millennium Development Goals. School feeding is a solution that can play a key role in addressing all of these goals. School feeding gets children to come to school, incents them to stay, and helps them perform better. Schooling is especially important for girls as it has a huge effect on their life options.

In addition, better nutrition reduces child mortality and leads to improved maternal health. It reduces illnesses and makes medi-cations, like retrovirals for HIV/AIDS, work better. School feeding programs can be part of sustainable local agriculture, and can bring together global partners. Eliminating child hunger is a powerful way to make progress on all of the MDG goals.

“As we eliminate child hunger, we address all of the UN Millennium Development Goals. The investment in children is the most powerful investment we can make.” ⎯ James Morris

Food aid must rely more on local solutions. The WFP is committed to expanding local agricultural infra-structures as a way to generate long-term sustainable food sources. This is especially important because commodity prices have gone up in recent years, so donated dollars buy less food now than they did in the past. School feeding programs can help supplement nutrition while a national food infrastructure is being built; lunch programs in Germany and Japan and sponsored by the US after World War II helped restore both education and agriculture in those countries.

People working in food aid need to become effective advo-cates so those in the developed world understand the need. So many people are hungry in the world, despite the fact that the costs of alleviating hunger are relatively low. But awareness is low both about the magnitude of the problems and the relative low cost of viable solutions.

It’s therefore important to raise awareness and funds by bringing people together from religious groups, political parties, service clubs, and other organizations to eliminate poverty. For example, one group, Rotary International, has immunized 2 billion people against polio in the last 20 years. If organizations could make a similar commitment to hunger, it could dramatically improve children’s lives.

“We need to be vigorous advocates. We need to help people understand these issues. We need to force our national leaders to put this on the agenda. I can’t think of a better issue to build community around than to solve the issue of hunger.” ⎯ James Morris

Additional information For more information about the Millennium Development Goals,

see http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.



Building Sustainable School Feeding Programs ■ Speaker: Kobus De Klerk, Regional Director, The Solae Company, LLC

The Big Idea Including private companies in school feeding partnerships can bring resources, capabilities, creativity, energy, and investment— all of which can help lead to sustainable school feeding programs.

Quick Summary Malnutrition has enormous humanitarian and economic costs,

and is an output of a broken system.

Investments in addressing malnutrition can have favorable economic consequences.

A key goal for school nutritional programs is that they become sustainable—able to operate on a long-term basis—enabled by government and community support.

Private-sector companies like Solae have a vested profit incentive to make school nutrition programs work and to help ensure they are sustainable.

Community involvement, from determining the product served to handling the distribution, offsets paternalism and ensures greater support.

When local food producers are involved in the supply and manufacture of a product, they will not only have an interest in its success, but they will also find new markets, contributing to greater national economic development.

Context Mr. De Klerk provided a private company perspective on building sustainable school feeding programs and described a nutritional supplement program operating in the Nassarawa, Nigeria, schools, using products made by Solae.

Key Points The statistics surrounding malnutrition are mind boggling.

Malnutrition is the leading cause of child mortality, responsible for 55%. Because of malnutrition, more than 50% of all children in some countries are stunted (and the average among GCNF participating countries is that 40% of children are stunted.) In the worst countries in the world, child mortality rates are greater than 250 per 1,000 children, with GCNF participants having average rates of around 200 per 1,000. Malnutrition is an outcome of a dysfunctional system. The underl-ying causes of malnutrition pertain to the quality and quantity of resources that are available and they way they are controlled. Malnutrition doesn’t just affect children’s lives; it affects econo-mies as well. It is estimated that India loses 1% of its GDP to malnutrition and China loses 2%. In total, malnutrition results in estimated economic losses of $19 billion per year, more than

twice the estimated $8 billion per year that it would take to address malnutrition. (This indicates that spending $8 billion per year to address malnutrition would reap economic benefits of at least $19 billion.) Mr. De Klerk stressed that making these types of databased financial arguments is necessary to get the atten-tion of governments and to convince them to spend money com-bating malnutrition.

“When you talk to governments, talk like a business about the economics of malnutrition.” ⎯ Kobus De Klerk

A key for any school nutrition program is to make it sustainable. The goal for school feeding programs is that they be sustainable, meaning they be able to be operated by a country and/or a community on a long-term basis. Sustainable school nutrition programs have government policy and support, community commitment, home-grown food, technical support, program leadership, and private-sector involvement. Achieving sustainability requires that all stakeholders work together, because no one organization can handle all of the complex components that are part of school feeding.

“You cannot do it yourself. If you cannot build an alliance of networked partners, you can’t do it. The problems are just too big.” ⎯ Kobus De Klerk

Sustainability requires alliances of like-minded individuals and groups whose aim is to improve the wellbeing of people through nutrition. Alliances are necessary to providing funding and to help develop the capabilities that are required on an ongoing basis (including local food production). Among the key alliances required are those with governments, with parent-teacher associations (PTAs), and with the private sector.

“PTA involvement is critical [for school feeding programs to succeed.” ⎯ Kobus De Klerk

It is very much in the best interests of private-sector companies like Solae to have sound, sustainable school feeding programs. That is because companies like Solae invest to develop products and channels with the goal of making profits (albeit at lower than typical margins) on the products they sell for school feeding. They therefore desire that school feeding programs continue on an ongoing basis and expand; to that end, they must be involved to make sure that school nutrition programs work and are sustainable.

“From a private company point of view, it is very important that sustainability happens. We make money from every gram of protein in that product.” ⎯ Kobus De Klerk



Aid workers and private companies must avoid paternalism and include the preferences of students and communities. When people and companies from developed countries arrive to do work in developing nations, they sometimes push their own preferences. To combat the risk of its product not being accepted (and the company’s program goals being undermined), Solae’s management decided to document children’s preferences. That’s why the product development team set up taste tests in schools to find out what children preferred. They tested the texture, the base, and different flavorings, settling on the product that most appealed to children.

To involve local growers, a school feeding program may need to help them find markets for their products. In Nigeria, the children preferred a cassava-based product, so Solae looked for local sources to grow it. Cassava is a popular ingredient in the country and is common to Nigeria, but not in the form that Solae needed. So the company worked with local growers to better process the starch, and then looked for new commercial markets for it. It’s now being made in a quality and consistency that can be added to more processed foods.

Other Important Points Defining sustainability. There is no singular agreed upon

definition for sustainability as it pertains to school feeding programs. Among the key elements are momentum, ongoing, continuous, and elimination of a hand-out.

About Solae. The Solae Company is a joint venture of Bunge Limited and DuPont that develops and markets soy protein derivatives used in food products all over the world.

NGOs and private companies. Some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) resent the involvement of the private sector. Mr. De Klerk says that the profit motive keeps companies accountable, but some NGOs have never been accountable and don’t want to start now. But good NGOs already have informal business relationships and appreciate any effort that helps them

reach the goal of better childhood nutrition efficiently and sustainably.

Government involvement. Because the leadership in a national government will change periodically, it is important to have legi-slative and community support to keep the program sustainable even as government officials are elected.

Case Study—Solae in Nigeria In 2005, Solae Company and Tetra Pak announced participation

in a government plan to give free lunches to 2.5 million primary school students in Nigeria, starting in the state of Nassarawa.

Almost half of school children in Nigeria suffer from stunted growth due to poor nutrition, and about a quarter of the 30 million people in the country have no formal education. Nigerian Presi-dent and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo sponsored the nutrition program to improve the nation’s health and its educational attainment.

Solae became the manager of a partnership of private com-panies, NGOs, and community groups that developed the nutritional program. Local growers produced most of the raw materials for beverages rich in soy protein and micronutrients. The Nigerian government paid Solae and the other suppliers for ingredients. Tetra Pak provided packaging that kept the drinks shelf-stable for 12 months. Parents and teachers contribute by picking up the products from central warehouses and managing the distribution within the schoolhouses.

The product itself is currently made in Lagos, with Nigerian in-gredients. Solae and Tetra Pak are working with local Nigerian companies to take over production.

A lesson learned is that it is possible to include school feeding with broader economic growth initiatives, leading to a long-term sustainable school feeding program that is supported by the country and the community, rather than a traditional aid program.



Status of School Feeding: Country Reports— Ethiopia, Honduras, Kenya, Mali, and Pakistan

The Big Idea School feeding programs are making a difference in some of the poorest countries in the world. The programs are providing millions of children at least one good meal per day, are improving the cli-mate for education, and are benefiting communities and countries. But many challenges exist, including the need to increase funding to feed all of the children in need while increasing the capacity and infrastructure of those entities working to feed children. Among the common themes mentioned by presenters from multiple countries were:

- These countries have high rates of malnutrition among chil-dren, low rates of literacy, lowered than desired school enrollment, and high dropout rates.

- These countries are aware of the problems faced and in gener-al have made education and school feeding national priorities.

- School feeding programs provide an incentive to students to attend and stay in school.

- Successful implementation of these programs entails forming a partnership between the national government, WFP, and local communities.

- The key challenges include sustained government commit-ment, funding, capacity, and measurements showing results.

Quick Summary Ethiopia’s FFE and CHILD programs are producing positive

results. But both face funding challenges and require ongoing commitment and support from the government.

Strong government commitment and financial support have enabled the school feeding program in Honduras to grow from serving 210,000 children in 2001 to 1.26 million in 2007.

Government and WFP support are helping Kenya’s school feeding program feed more than 1 million children as Kenya works to develop a long-term strategy that links school meals to local food production.

Mali has a long-term vision for a national school feeding pro-gram, but no such program currently exists. A WFP country program is in place, but it feeds just 120,000 of the country’s 5 million school-aged children. A national school feeding program is greatly needed.

A program in Pakistan providing improved nutrition to girls in primary schools was abandoned, but it is being restarted after revisions that came out of studying best practices.

Context Representatives from school feeding programs in Ethiopia, Hondu-ras, Kenya, Mali, and Pakistan described the context for education and school feeding in their countries, discussed the school feeding

programs being implemented, shared results from these programs, and laid out the challenges faced. The presentations were given and are summarized in alphabetical order.

Ethiopia High malnutrition affects Ethiopia’s educational system.

Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populated country, with 77 million people, 85% of whom engage in rural, rain-fed sub-sistence agriculture. Per capita income is $100 USD per year. Children in Ethiopia face severe malnutrition; 47% of those younger than five have stunted height, 38% are underweight, and 11% are so underweight they are termed “wasted.” Ethiopia has among the highest rates of children with special needs, mainly attributed to impairments from malnutrition. Malnutrition also causes many children to have IQs that are 10 to 15 points below those of children in developed countries.

“There is a link between malnutrition and education.” ⎯ Representative from Ethiopia

The net enrollment rate (in 2005/06) in Ethiopia’s schools was 86%, which is high; three to four years ago it was just 50%. But recurrent and capital spending on education of just $4.15 per student per year is very low. This low spending combined with underdeveloped community capacity results in pressure on basic school services and infrastructure, negatively affecting the quality of education. Currently, literacy among men/boys is 50%, but is only 27% among women/girls. More than 14% of students drop out during primary school, with fewer than 4% attaining higher education.

School feeding is a key part of Ethiopia’s policy, and the Food for Education program has produced good results. Ethiopia’s government has established policies aiming to address poverty and malnutrition. Specifically, the government has created a “Plan for Accelerated Sustainable Development to End Poverty,” which cuts across all sectors and highlights education as a key sector. A national nutrition strategy has been developed and is under discussion in the cabinet, and an Education Sector Development Programme is in place, which recognizes school feeding as a key strategy.

Since commencing in 1994, Food for Education (FFE) has grown from 40 schools that reached 40,000 children to more than 1,000 schools that reached 639,000 children in 2006. FFE’s objectives are that: 1) more children will be enrolled in, attending, and able to actively participate in schools; and 2) the quality of education will be improved and schools will be progressively transformed into centers for local development. FFE’s design consists of:

⎯ Targeting: Geographical targeting of primary school children in food-insecure woredas (districts) by local government educa-tion offices, based on World Food Programme/Ministry of Education criteria.



⎯ At-school feeding: This consists of a mid-morning meal of 150 grams of fortified blended food, 6 grams of fortified vegetable oil, and 3 grams of iodized salt, cooked according to local recipes and varying by region. This provides 600 kilocalories, which is one-third of the daily recommendation.

⎯ Take-home ration: 8 liters of fortified vegetable oil is provided to girls in pastoral communities as an incentive to reduce the significant gender disparities in schools.

Where FFE has been in place, positive results have been seen. In 2006, schools getting FFE saw a 6.2% enrollment increase compared to non-participating schools. The attendance rate is 90%, which is very high, and the dropout rate is 5.4% below the national average. The gender ratio has improved significantly. These statistics all show that providing food gives students an added incentive to come to school.

“Food is an incentive to come to school.” ⎯ Representative from Ethiopia

An innovative new program called CHILD aims to transform the school into a local development resource center. The success of school feeding programs can create a challenge: kids are encouraged to come to school, but this can burden the school’s infrastructure. Children In Local Development (CHILD) is a participatory community planning toolkit to improve the school environment and transform the school into a local development resource cen-ter. This toolkit provides a partnership framework with the school at the center. Parents and the community use this framework to identify and prioritize community problems, develop plans, and then implement solutions that leverage the school and its infra-structure to benefit the entire community. CHILD focuses on leveraging and building on existing systems while strengthening planning capacity at local levels.

“Communities develop plans that leverage the school and give them to districts to implement for the benefit of the community.” ⎯ Representative from Ethiopia describing CHILD

With both FFE and CHILD, building capacity is a key goal. In general, WFP is responsible for providing food, essential non-food items, project management expertise, and capacity building. The Ministry of Education and Regional Bureaus of Education are responsible for implementation, management, coordination, regular monitoring and reporting, and tax waivers on commodi-ties. And schools and local communities are responsible for food storage, preparation of CHILD plans, and mobilization of the community to implement the plans.

The challenges to Ethiopia’s school feeding programs are both operational and financial. The operational challenges include getting food delivered to schools, which is not easy based on Ethiopia’s topography and often inadequate roads, and then storing the food in schools’ limited storage facilities. Financially, FFE and CHILD are dependent on funding solicited through WFP. A decrease in funding—as occurred in 2007—

decreases the program size. Funding constraints caused FFE to be reduced from 639,000 students in 2006 to just 372,000 chil-dren in 2007. The goal is to make FFE a national governmental program with a separate funding budget line. But because Ethiopia is a poor country with limited resources, it is difficult to secure this ongoing government commitment.

Honduras Malnutrition in Honduras is extremely high.

Currently, 37% of the population—and 33% of children—in Hon-duras are malnourished. Urban malnutrition is 24%, and rural malnutrition is 42%. There are 96 extremely poor municipalities, where 52% to 88% of children are malnourished. Malnutrition limits children’s social and economic opportunities and impedes their physical, psycho-social, and mental development.

Honduras is plagued by high illiteracy and dropout rates. More than 30% of the population is illiterate, and most have received little schooling. On average just 84% of children in urban areas are enrolled in school, and only 75% in rural areas. And among those who have enrolled, 47% drop out by age 15. The main reason for dropping out is the need to work, with high dropout rates during the planting and harvesting seasons.

“If we don’t have educated people, how can the country ever develop?” ⎯ Representative from Honduras

Honduras has shown real government commitment to school feeding. The school feeding program in Honduras combined three funda-mental elements:

⎯ A school feeding law: This law was approved by the Con-gress of Honduras in 2006, and it makes implementation of the school feeding program mandatory.

⎯ Partnership: A partnership has been formed among the Mini-stry of Education, the Healthy School Program, and the UN World Food Programme. Monthly meetings are held to discuss implementation of the school feeding program and to deter-mine how to measure impact and demonstrate the link between nutrition and education.

⎯ Community participation: This involves bringing resources together at the local level to support school feeding (resources in addition to just food) and preparing meals.

The school feeding program involves providing one meal per day, which is a 160 gram portion that combines maize, rice, beans, CSB (described as a “miracle food”), and vegetable oil. This portion has 19.5 grams of protein value and 621 kilocalories. The number of beneficiaries of Honduras’ school feeding pro-gram has grown continuously. In 2001, there were 210,000 beneficiaries, which grew to 391,000 in 2002; 725,000 in 2003; 893,000 in 2004; 967,000 in 2005; 1.1 million 2006; and 1.26 million in 2007 from more than 17,000 school centers. And during this time the primary financial source has been the government of Honduras, which represents 85% to 90% of the financial support.



“There is real government commitment. The government didn’t just pass a law but [has] put in money.” ⎯ Representative from Honduras

The key challenges still faced include securing further financial resources to provide school feeding to the estimated 300,000 children who still need it, building capacity at the local level to reinforce program ownership, increasing funding to implement the UNICEF/WFP Essential Package, and measuring progress and impact on the link between school feeding and education.

Kenya Government policies and WFP support are helping advance

school feeding in Kenya. Multiple policy developments are helping make school feeding a priority in Kenya. A needs assessment related to the Millennium Development Goals identified school feeding as a key interven-tion to achieve the country’s goals, and in 2003 Kenya introduced free primary education (FPE). School feeding augments FPE by providing a meal at school so that children from food insecure households don’t have to drop out of school to search for food.

“The School Food Program augments the [FPE] effort by providing a meal at school so that children from food-insecure households do not drop out.” ⎯ Representative from Kenya

In addition to Kenya’s government, the World Food Programme is providing vital support. This includes activities of the country program, which target 1.16 million children in 3,800 schools; expanded school feeding activities in food-insecure areas that target another 271,000; and a protracted relief and recovery operation for refugees, which aims to assist another 50,000.

Kenya’s comprehensive school feeding program (SFP) has ambitious goals and many aspects to it. Among the many aspects of Kenya’s SFP are its:

⎯ Objectives and expected benefits: The long-term objective is to promote universal primary education of socio-economically disadvantaged and nutritionally vulnerable children, especially girls, in pre-primary and primary schools in targeted districts. Specific objectives and expected benefits include increasing enrollment, improving the attention span and learning capa-bilities of students, improving school facilities, supporting school-based micro-enterprises, and providing a significant contribution to the nutrient intakes of school children.

⎯ Coverage: The type of schools covered include public pre-primary and primary schools. Areas of schools covered include public pre-primary and primary schools in arid (10 districts) and semi-arid areas (19 districts), schools in 6 unplanned urban settlements of Nairobi, and early childhood development centers (ECDC) in 5 arid districts. The type of meals covered include a mid-day meal along with an addi-tional 40 grams of corn soya for children in slum schools and the ECDCs.

⎯ Funding: The annual cost of the SFP is $19.3 million, which equates to about $17 per student fed per year. Of this, WFP contributes $19.6 million and the government of Kenya pro-vides $2.7 million. Some support for the unplanned settle-ments comes from the private sector and from community and religious organizations.

⎯ Implementation: Implementation is by Kenya’s government, specifically the Ministry of Education (MOE), with WFP playing advisory and technical support roles. Monitoring of SFP is done jointly by WFP and MOE.

⎯ Other activities: In addition to providing food, SFP is engaged in other important activities, which include capacity building, addressing gender inequality by promoting education for girls, de-worming school children, providing energy-saving stoves, supporting micro projects, and encouraging gardening at schools to supplement the SFP ration.

⎯ Achievements to date: In 2006, food was sent to almost 3,800 schools and fed 1.16 million children, and over 72,000 children received micronutrient supplementation through a snack. Nationally, the number of students enrolled has increased, with notably so after FPE took effect in 2003. School comple-tion rates increased from 63% in 2002 to 67% in 2004, after FPE. Gender parity has improved, as has exam performance. In addition,165,000 children were de-wormed and 67 energy-saving stoves were constructed at schools.

⎯ Challenges: Multiple challenges exist including resource con-straints to expand SFP to meet increasing demand, insecurity, difficult terrain, pipeline breaks, poor coordination, and pro-gram sustainability.

⎯ Future focus: Going forward, the intent is development of a strategy to link school meals to local production, which will address sustainability of the SFP. This requires investments in the agricultural sector and in infrastructure.

Mali Extreme poverty in Mali affects the education sector, but

much progress is being made. Mali’s per capita GDP in 2006 was $380, and the country ranked 174 out of 177 in UNDP’s Human Development Index. Of Mali’s 13.5 million people, about 5 million are school-aged children—30% of which (1.6 million) live in food-insecure regions. Despite these challenges, Mali has taken steps to develop its educational system and significant progress has been made. In 2006 the gross enrollment rate reached 75%, up from 39% in 1995, though a big disparity remains between the rates for boys (85%) and girls (63%). The gross passing rate for first grade increased from 59% in 2000/01 to 74% in 2005/06, and the grade repetition rate declined from 35% to 17% over the same period.

“In particular, low enrollment rates are seen in the most food-insecure regions of Mali.” ⎯ Representative from Mali

Among the factors hampering progress in the education sector are limited government capacity (human and financial) to serve rural areas; long walking distances for students to get to school;



low household incomes, which makes income generation a prior-ity; and high food insecurity, which affects health and drop-out rates.

Mali’s national policies define education and school feeding national priorities. Mali’s education sector reforms support achievement of Millen-nium Development Goals. Mali’s Poverty Reduction Strategy defines food security and access to education as top priorities. And FFE is part of the country’s ten-year education development program and is seen as one of the best ways to improve children’s access to school as well as their retention.

No school feeding program currently exists, but school canteens and WFP support are feeding some students. While education and school feeding are long-term priorities, Mali does not currently have national school feeding program. The absence of any national policy regarding school feeding prevents synergies between activities from occurring and a strong case for mobilizing resources for the most vulnerable from being made.

“Mali needs a national school feeding policy to improve coordination and mobilize resources.” ⎯ Representative from Mali

But there are pockets of successful activities taking place. After Mali’s independence in 1962, basic school canteens were set up by some communities. A small number of these school canteen programs have evolved and now receive assistance from various sources, including Mali’s government, international NGOs, the Diaspora, and even the WPF. Even more importantly is the WFP’s support. WFP launched an initial pilot in Mali in 1999 and then extended it for an additional two years. After the pilot a country program with a school feeding component was approved for 2003 to 2007; a second country program has been prepared in collaboration with the govern-ment, NGOs, and UN agencies that is planned to run from 2008 to 2012. WFP’s goals are to improve enrollment and attendance, espec-ially for girls, to decrease dropouts, and to reduce gender dispar-ity. The WFP intervention is targeted at those areas with the greatest food insecurity. The specific WFP activities include:

⎯ Food: This includes one hot meal per day in most areas and two in nomadic schools. This consists of cereal, pulses, vege-table oil, and complementary foods provided by the local communities. Take-home rations are provided to girls’ families to boost attendance, and meals are offered to volunteer cooks.

⎯ Capacity building: Training is provided to PTAs.

⎯ Education: The focus is health education on sanitation and hygiene as well as HIV/AIDS prevention. De-worming tablets are also provided.

⎯ Infrastructure: Funding is provided for the construction of classrooms, storage facilities, and toilets.

Implementation is done through partnership between WFP (which procures and transports food to schools and provides financial support for the capacity building of PTAs), the Ministry

of Education (which coordinates activities nationally and region-ally, and selects and monitors schools), local communities (which manage the school canteens), and other NGOs (which help drum up community involvement and train PTAs). The biggest challenge is that limited funding limits the reach of these interventions. Of the 1.6 million school-aged children living in food-insecure regions, WFP reaches just 120,000. This illus-trates the need for more funding and more capacity within the Ministry of Education at both a national and a regional/ local level.

Pakistan In response to low human development indicators, Paki-

stan’s government has introduced a series of reforms. During the past two decades, Pakistan has experienced low human development progress. This included high rates of poverty, high rates of malnutrition and underweight children, low rates of literacy, and low school enrollment rates. Awareness of these problems led the government to introduce a comprehensive economic reform agenda in 2001 to improve access to social services, job creation, livelihood development, and social safety nets, with specific concentration on reducing gender gap and inter-regional rural/urban disparities. The gov-ernment interventions that are being pursued include a food stamp program, a subsidy for food, a micronutrient program, and a school feeding program.

The Tawana Pakistan program aims to help improve the health of girls in poor regions. This school feeding program, which means “healthy Pakistan program,” was designed to meet the nutrition requirements and improve the health of 5- to 12-year-old girls in primary schools in the country’s poorest regions.

“If the population is healthy, the nation will be.” ⎯ Representative from Pakistan

This program started in January 2002 at a cost of about $15 million, with funding provided by the federal government. It tar-geted about 4,700 schools and 348,000 students in 29 high-poverty districts. Meals, which for each school were cooked and served by a local parents committee, were provided 25 days per month for 10 months per year. The package also included a micronutrient. Implementation was managed by the Ministry of Social Welfare and included Agha Khan University and 11 NGOs, which supported and monitored the program. Despite the program’s good objectives, it was abandoned in June 2006 due to issues related to its structure and implementation. There was a lack of ownership at the provincial and district levels, a delay in the release of funds, and no incentives for school teachers. The daily cooking of food at the school was dis-ruptive, and the incorporation of micronutrients into meals was not acceptable to many parents. After the project was abandoned, a third party recommended changes in its scope and implementation. Cooked food has been replaced by packaged food consisting of nutritious biscuits and



milk. Implementation is being managed very differently. With these changes, the program was relaunched in March 2007. It covers 550,000 girls in almost 7,000 schools across 50 high-poverty districts.

A national school nutrition program for Pakistan is in the planning stages. A planning commission, established to look at global best prac-tices for school nutrition programs and recommend options, has issued its report.

The recommended nutritional package consists of fortified bis-cuits and milk biscuits, to be manufactured locally under strict quality control. Expansion of the envisioned program would come in phases, starting with a pilot for rural primary girls in 10 districts. (Tentative funding has been allocated for this pilot.) Long term, the program would be managed nationally by a steering committee, with an administrative committee at the provincial level. At the school level, the program would be implemented by a School Management Committee. A uniform training module would be developed and data collected to monitor results.



Government Commitment and Capacity Through Partnerships ■ Speaker: Stan Garnett, Director, Child Nutrition Division, United States Department of Agriculture

The Big Idea Effective school feeding programs require strong and sustained government commitment, as has been the case in the United States for many years. Commitment means legislation and a stable and secure source of funding.

Quick Summary School feeding in the US began primarily as a way to assist

farmers during hard economic times.

Only after nutrition in the US was seen as lacking did nutrition become a rational for school feeding.

School nutrition has been sustained and strengthened through a series of legislative actions demonstrating the government’s commitment to child nutrition and school feeding.

Evaluations are critical in gathering data about school feeding and building commitment among lawmakers and the public.

The US has a long tradition of supporting international feeding programs, with the 2005 McGovern-Dole program as the most recent program in that tradition.

Lessons learned from the US’s school feeding experience include the need to strengthen program sustainability, to use food creatively to support educational programs, to involve parents and local governments, and to integrate health, nutrition, and environmental education.

Context Mr. Garnett provided an overview of the US’s domestic and inter-national school feeding programs, and shared lessons learned and best practices from the US’s experiences building these programs.

Key Points School feeding in the US dates back to the Great Depression

of the 1930s, and now results in feeding 30 million per day. The motives in the US for creating the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) stem from the Great Depression. Early support for child nutrition was largely a by-product of relief efforts for farmers; to help struggling farmers, the US government acquired commodities and donated them to schools for lunch programs. Many school lunch workers were hired and trained through the Works Project Administration, which promoted employment. The motives for school feeding shifted after World War II as the government saw that many adults were rejected from the military due to nutrition-related problems, causing the government to place greater focus on nutrition. The structure for school feeding also changed; instead of the government’s donating commod-ities, it provided funds to schools to be used for locally purchased

foods. Over time, both cash and commodity assistance became permanent program features. In 2006, the NSLP served nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to more than 30 million children each day through more than 100,000 schools at an annual cost of more than $10 billion. Almost all schools in the US participate. More than 84,000 schools participate in the School Breakfast Program (SBP), which serves 9.8 million children daily. The summer program serves 1.9 million children per day and the child care program serves another 3.1 million daily.

The government has shown commitment to school feeding through a series of legislative measures. This series of legislative acts includes:

⎯ Section 32. This legislation, enacted in 1935, provided a per-manent source of funding for US school nutrition programs, that source being 30% of the US’s annual customs receipts. (One purpose of these funds is to encourage domestic con-sumption of agricultural products.) Today this represents over $5.7 billion per year. The United States Department of Agri-culture (USDA) receives these funds and uses them to pur-chase surplus farm products for school feeding.

“The driving force for assistance to schools was the enactment in 1935 of Section 32” ⎯ Stan Garnett

⎯ The National School Lunch Act (NSLA). This took place in 1946, after first failing in 1944.This made funding for school lunches and child care permanent, in part as a national secur-ity issue. Today the focus has evolved from security to hunger and malnutrition. (USDA guidelines protect meal quality.) This legislation entailed providing support (both cash and commod-ities) to states based on need. When enacted, the US Con-gress insisted that NSLP maintain its agricultural heritage. Congress also rejected proposals that NSLP just be for low-income children; NSLP was for all children with a separate but growing commitment of federal funds for free and reduced-price lunches for children in low-income families.

⎯ Section 4 of NSLA. This provides for grant-in-aid payments for all meals and is intended to support the NSLP’s infrastructure. It provides a direct link in funding to total student participation.

“Government commitment is demonstrated in the permanent funding of child nutrition programs.” ⎯ Stan Garnett

⎯ Matching. Part of NSLP’s success is that in addition to federal support, there are state matching requirements. In the begin-ning, matching funds from states was on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Today children from families with income below 130% of the federal poverty line receive a free lunch; those from families with income between 130% and 185% of the poverty line receive a reduced-price lunch (which has a maximum



price set by law). Schools also get a reimbursement even for those students who pay the full amount.

“Federal support is targeted to help the most needy.” ⎯ Stan Garnett

This legislation shows the sustained commitment of the US gov-ernment to agriculture, to child nutrition, and to helping those in need. This provides a model that other countries can learn from.

“Commitment and capacity go hand in hand; without commitment there is no capacity.” ⎯ Stan Garnett

Evaluations are a powerful tool for building commitment among lawmakers and the public about child nutrition. Evaluations are an important way to convince lawmakers and the public about the importance of child nutrition. They provide a way not only to continue existing programs but to augment them. Over the past 25 years, a series of evaluations have provided data to strengthen the case for child nutrition. These evaluations have shown that: child nutrition programs have a higher impact on low-income students; younger students are more likely to participate than older ones; and the poorest students participate the most. One evaluation showed that school lunches were not consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for America recommend-ations. The use of evaluations to provide data to lawmakers about the impact of school nutrition programs is a technique that other countries should strongly consider.

In addition to domestic feeding programs, the US has a long history of supporting international feeding programs. The situation in the developing world is more dire than in the US. Some 120 million children around the world—many of them girls—don’t attend school, often due to hunger or malnutrition. The US is the world’s leading provider of food assistance, pro-viding $1.67 billion in foreign food aid in 2006. (From 1995 to 2005, the US contributed 60% of global food aid.) This assis-tance began in the 1920s and has involved several programs:

⎯ Food for Peace. This was enacted in 1954 and was the first legislative authority to create a specific US agricultural commodity overseas aid program.

⎯ Food for Progress. This program is used in countries that have made commitments to introduce or expand free enterprise elements in their agricultural economy. It focuses on private-sector development of the agricultural sector.

⎯ The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education pro-gram. Begun in 2004, this program provides commodities, funds, and technical assistance mainly for school lunch programs in poor countries. In 2006 and 2007, Congress appropriated $103 million for this program with a participation goal of $2.5 million.

The impacts of international feeding programs are many. Feeding programs can unite and energize communities; they can help stimulate local economies; they improve schools’ learning envi-ronments and improve health, hygiene, and nutrition practices; and school feeding is a less controversial subject than many others and can be a point of international unity.

The US’s experience in domestic and international feeding has resulted in lessons that others can learn from. There are four issues that experience has shown to be integral to the administration of a successful feeding program. They are:

⎯ Strengthen program sustainability. This starts with targeting areas where food is scarce. It requires involving host govern-ments, local entities, parents, and community members in program planning and implementation as well as leveraging resources from multiple donors to build on existing develop-ment programs. It also means planning for a phase-out, when assistance comes to an end.

⎯ Use food creatively to support educational programs. Some ways to do so include take-home rations, food-for-work projects, payments for teachers, and education programs for parents on nutrition, hygiene, sanitation, and environmentally sound and cost-effective cooking practices. Other ideas in-clude planting school gardens, encouraging variety, arranging complimentary municipal purchases, and creating income-generating projects.

⎯ Involve parents and local governments in support of schools. The lesson is to organize and train PTAs to leverage their resources and to take the initiative to make school improve-ments. Local and national government officials should be involved in community events and program promotions.

“The greater the participation of the PTA and the community, the greater the advances.” ⎯ Stan Garnett

⎯ Integrate health, nutrition, and environment education. Any school feeding project should be integrated with the other efforts related to health, nutrition, and environmental improve-ment. This can involve interventions related to health, water, and sanitation, or de-worming programs. Community fairs can be an effective technique for widespread education.



Community Commitment and Capacity through Partnerships ■ Speaker: Cathy Schuchart, Senior Vice President of Child Nutrition and Policy, School Nutrition Association

The Big Idea Sustained governmental support for school nutrition programs re-quires organized and ongoing advocacy. The best advocates pro-vide education and build relationships with all key stakeholders. Advocacy is best when done in partnership with other organiza-tions.

Quick Summary Advocacy is a continuous process of educating all key stake-

holders, especially political leaders who control the purse strings, about the importance and value of school nutrition.

The best advocacy is done in conjunction with partners.

SNA will be using its advocacy and partnership-forming capa-bilities as legislation to reauthorize the school lunch program is planned for 2009 and to achieve changes in wellness policy legislation.

Context Ms. Schuchart described the role that SNA plays in the US as an advocate for child nutrition and in working to influence legislation. This experience in the US can serve as a model to others who are seeking to shape legislation in their countries.

Key Points Advocacy means actively and continuously demonstrating

the value of school lunch. The fact is that students can’t learn on an empty stomach. But translating that fact into active and ongoing support for child nutrition is not so simple. Advocacy requires conveying the importance of school feeding programs on an ongoing basis through education and other outreach efforts. Education efforts must touch parents, children, the community, and political leaders. Advocacy means involving parents, educators, and community leaders, while also reaching out to the media and developing model programs that show the worth of school nutrition programs. Examples of SNA’s advocacy efforts include: regular contact with national and state elected officials; regular conferences; corre-spondence with leaders through letters, emails, and faxes; devel-oping relationships with the staffs of elected leaders; serving as an educational resource to leaders and officials, and inviting leaders to have lunch in schools. (Lunch visits are very illustrative and helpful in educating leaders.) Also important is always doing your homework.

“SNA has developed great relationships with members of Congress. SNA is the nutrition expert.” ⎯ Cathy Schuchart

The content of advocacy efforts includes informing officials about the status of programs, suggesting program changes or improve-ments, asking for continued financial support, and/or testifying about the status of programs. Key aspects of SNA’s advocacy efforts include reaching out to and building relationships with leaders and orchestrating grass-roots advocacy efforts, where SNA members from around the country contact their elected officials on a particular subject. Results of these efforts include: 1) legislative changes suggested by SNA are generally considered and acted upon; and 2) funding for school nutrition is rarely cut (while additional funding is always desirable, as it would mean more effective school nutrition pro-grams, the fact remains that over $10 billion is provided today).

“Everyone supports school nutrition. It is paying for it that is the issue.” ⎯ Cathy Schuchart

Advocacy is most effective when done in partnership with other leading organizations. Partners have more clout and a louder voice. With this in mind, SNA has formed and works regularly with a series of partners who share similar interests. The partners include health and nutrition groups, hunger organizations, groups focused on education issues, and other advocacy groups.

SNA’s advocacy capabilities will be used in seeking to tweak recent legislation. The five-year reauthorization of the National School Lunch Pro-gram (NSLP) will occur in 2009. In advance of that reauthoriza-tion, SNA will survey its members to get their feedback about what is good about the current legislation and what needs to be changed. Already on SNA’s agenda is pursuit of one national set of nutri-tion standards. This goal follows legislation that required each school district in the country to create a wellness policy by July 1, 2006. Despite the best intentions of improving health and well-ness in schools across the country, the legislation has resulted in much complexity, as each school district now has its own well-ness policy. SNA’s members and industry partners desire one consistent national set of nutrition standards. This makes sense, but pushing this legislative change forward is likely to be difficult and could take years.

Other Important Point Inaccurate obesity complaints. The NSLP is often blamed for

obesity. This is ironic, because the school lunch is often a child’s healthiest meal of the day.



Country Case Study—Brazil Model Universal School Feeding: A National Commitment ■ Speaker: Daniel Balaban, President, National Educational Development

The Big Idea Brazil’s school feeding program is well developed and provides a model for other countries. From no program in 1955 to a program for poor municipalities in 1974, Brazil now has a universal school feeding program. It is the law, is centrally funded, and is locally administered by school feeding councils, which follow clear rules.

Quick Summary In Brazil, school feeding is the law, and it is funded by the

central government.

School feeding is based on principles of universality, continuity, equality, decentralization, and local control.

School feeding is managed locally, overseen by a school feeding council that has clear duties and follows clear rules.

Next steps include expanding school feeding to more high schools, training local managers, improving program assess-ment and monitoring, and providing international assistance.

Context Mr. Balaban shared the evolution and operation of Brazil’s universal school feeding program.

Key Points Universal school feeding is legally mandated and is funded

by Brazil’s central government. Brazil’s population of 187 million includes 43 million students who attend 165,000 schools. Of these schools, 20% are middle and secondary schools (with 54% of the students) and 80% are below the middle-school level (46% of students). In 1955 school feeding was a regional humanitarian campaign based on international donations. By 1974, school feeding for poor municipalities came from Brazil’s budget. But in 1994 a uni-versal program was executed with resources transferred from the central government to states and municipalities based on the number of students. Brazil’s school feeding program is solidly grounded in law and supported by the federal government.

“A school has to have meals for students; it’s part of the law.” ⎯ Daniel Balaban

The laws about school feeding require that 20% of a student’s daily nutritional needs be provided by the program. The program currently serves 36 million children and in 2007 will receive $860 million USD, which equates to $0.12 per student per day.

“If you want to be a developed country, you have to have a school feeding program.” ⎯ Daniel Balaban

The principles on which Brazil’s school feeding program are based are: ⎯ Universality. The belief that everyone has a basic human right

to food. ⎯ Continuity. The idea that the school feeding program should

be continuous throughout the school year. ⎯ Equality. That all students should have the same treatment. ⎯ Decentralization. That federal funds should be transferred to

local managers for program implementation. ⎯ Social control. That the school feeding program should be

controlled locally by School Feeding Councils. Among the objectives of Brazil’s school feeding program are to attend to at least 20% of children’s daily nutritional needs, to respect regional habits, to promote children’s health and healthy habits, to improve attendance, and to assist local economies.

The school feeding programs are managed locally, but must adhere to certain standards. School feeding is funded nationally but is administered and managed locally. Each Federal District, state, and municipality must institute and maintain a School Feeding Council. This council represents families, teachers, civil society, the executive branch, and the legislative branch. In total there are about 70,000 School Feeding Council members in Brazil. These councils approve the accounts, monitor schools’ health and sanitary conditions, observe the development of menus, and alert authorities regarding any problems. Among the rules that have to be followed: nutritionists are responsible for menus; 70% of any menu is basic products (preferably fruit and vegetables); local production is favored; and healthy practices and school gardens are encouraged. Another rule is that 70% of students must like the food served at school or it has to be changed. The way the program operates is that money is transferred each month to federal districts, states, and municipalities, which then purchase the best-quality food at the best price, taking into account regional preferences. The food is then distributed to and prepared at the schools.

Despite the success of Brazil’s school feeding program, there remain further opportunities for improvement. Brazil’s next steps are focused on including high schools in the school feeding program, improving training to local managers, improving program assessment and monitoring, and improving formal and social control. In addition, Brazil is increasing the technical assistance it provides to Africa and Latin America.



Country Case Study—Jamaica Model National Policy: A Work in Progress ■ Speaker: Patricia Thompson, M.Sc., Registered Nutritionist, National Food and Nutrition Coordinating Committee of Jamaica

The Big Idea A survey showed that many students in Jamaica attend school without having an adequate breakfast, and a pilot program shows that breakfast improves students’ academic performance. The challenge is now one of creating the support and securing the funding to institutionalize a national school breakfast program.

Quick Summary A USAID-funded program produced a survey showing the

magnitude of the school breakfast problem in Jamaica and spurred a pilot breakfast program that improved academic performance and showed the need for sustained funding.

The goal established is within ten years to provide school breakfasts to 39,000 students at 277 schools.

Achieving this goal requires securing government support (which seems most likely from the Ministry of Agriculture) as well as support from other partners.

Securing funding will be the key issue.

Efforts to attain this support include networking, a conference of key stakeholders, and social marketing.

Context Ms. Thompson described her serendipitous work-in-progress journey to institutionalize school breakfasts in Jamaica. She told of her progress to date, the challenges faced, and her next steps.

Key Points The journey toward institutionalizing a school breakfast

program in Jamaica began with a USAID project in 1999. This project, called “New Horizons” and funded by USAID, con-sisted of a survey of Jamaica’s educational system and a pilot breakfast program. The survey showed that while 99% of stu-dents are enrolled in school, attendance is just around 75%, and is 55% in the worst districts. Academic performance is often poor and 40% of primary school students in Jamaica arrive at school having eaten inadequate breakfasts. The pilot breakfast program involved providing breakfast to 2,250 beneficiaries in 18 schools. (New Horizons provided 100% of the funding for the food in year one of the program, and the school had to cover all other costs. In year one New Horizons provided 50% of the funding and in year three, 25%.) Outcomes included a decrease in underweight students by 4.6% (this decrease occurred in year one, but as funding declined in

years two and three, underweight statistics reverted to the base-line), an increase in attendance of 23% to 45%, and a significant improvement in academic performance (this improved perform-ance was largely sustained even after funding decreased). This pilot showed that breakfast can definitely make a difference in academic performance, and that what is required is ongoing funding as well as structures and systems to monitor and control the school breakfast program. Funding must come about through partnerships that include businesses and the community.

“This [the New Horizons pilot] shows that break-fast makes a difference [in academic perform-ance]. The key is reliable, sustainable funding.” ⎯ Patricia Thompson

Analysis quantified the size of the program that is required in Jamaica. Currently, about 10% of students receive some sort of a school breakfast, resulting from school-based programs. However, these programs are not consistent and can vary as local outside sup-port varies. Analysis of the situation in Jamaica established that the goal for a national breakfast program should be to target and feed 39,000 students in 277 schools (out of a total of 276,000 students in 793 primary and all-age schools) within ten years and then on an ongoing basis. The intent is to sustain the school feeding pro-gram to the 18 schools in the initial pilot, to add 18 schools per year for four years (equating to 72 schools and 4,300 students, which is 11% of the total target), and then after four years to open the program to all schools.

Achieving these goals requires getting the right govern-mental support and partnerships. With the targets established, the question was, “Where to start?” Ms. Thompson attended the 2005 GCNF meeting, which pro-vided both inspiration and direction. One suggestion from this meeting was to contact the National Food and Nutrition Coordin-ating Committee of Jamaica (NFNCCJ), which is an umbrella organization that brings together government, healthcare, and professional organizations. The NFNCCJ agreed to make Ms. Thompson a Program Development Officer, adding credibility in her efforts to institutionalize a school breakfast program. A needs assessment showed huge interest from multiple stake-holders in the concept of a school breakfast program and in a central entity to oversee the program and funding to assure equity and accessibility. As a next step, Ms. Thompson contacted the Ministries of Educa-tion (MOE), Health (MOH), and Agriculture (MOA), as well as NGOs, civic organizations, and the private sector. The MOE wasn’t interested in pursuing or overseeing a national school



breakfast program. Their interest was to take steps such as developing manuals and menus, and then pushing school feed-ing to the schools, extricating the MOE from school feeding. The DOH is focused on promoting a healthy lifestyle to address obesity and chronic diseases, which includes creating a health environment and promoting wellness and exercise (through activities such as health screenings, dance competitions, and education about making wise food choices). But DOH is not interested in leading an effort to create a national school break-fast program. Fortunately, the DOA is open to the idea of a national school feeding program as part of a broad-based sustainability effort. A concept paper has been developed, a policy is being formulated, and support is being gathered from partners, ministers, and senators. One step in creating a coalition of support is a regional conference including political leaders, administrators, and technical experts. Perhaps the key step is creating a support base for funding. It is envisioned that this support base will include the private sector, Diaspora organizations, and donor agencies.

“A key is to mobilize all sectors to create visibility.” ⎯ Patricia Thompson

The key next steps include:

⎯ Develop a network of partners/collaborators.

⎯ Implement a funding strategy.

⎯ Develop links with the agricultural sector and marketing channels for food distribution.

⎯ Engage in social marketing, which includes articles in papers on school nutrition that are targeted to politicians.

⎯ Monitor and evaluate structures and systems on an ongoing basis.

Other Important Point Improving performance. Ms. Thompson said that among 10

potential interventions looked at to improve students’ academic performance, providing breakfast Is the smallest and least expensive.



Delegates Report: Country Development Plans

The Big Idea While the delegates are dealing with different situations and unique challenges, several common themes emerged in their plans. These include the need to develop a school nutrition policy or framework and to secure strong government commitment and support, often from the Minister of Education. Also common is the need to engage the private sector by develop-ing a strong case that conveys the importance and benefits of school feeding programs. In several instances, delegates plan to hold forums to bring together and educate the key stakeholders about school nutrition.

Quick Summary In Mali the priority is creating a national school nutrition policy,

to lead to long-term financial support, while also building community and donor support for school nutrition programs.

The plans for Ethiopia focus on securing the support and lead-ership of the Minister of Education, and building partnerships with the private sector. Realizing this support will require educating stakeholders and making a strong case for school feeding programs.

The focus of Honduras’ plan is educating parents and educa-tors about health and nutrition.

Pakistan is implementing a school feeding program in phases, but most important is developing an integrated national school feeding plan that brings all aspects together in one compre-hensive plan.

Kenya’s most immediate need and greatest area of focus is creating a legal framework for school nutrition.

Context During the course of the GCNF, representatives from each country met to develop action-oriented country plans to provide a frame-work for action upon returning home. Specifically, the delegations from each country were asked to answer the following questions:

1. What is the ONE most immediate need upon returning to your country?

2. Who are the groups or individuals that are most important in achieving long-term sustainability of the program?

3. Describe the next steps you will use to expand school feeding when you return home?

4. What do you anticipate will be your country’s greatest accomplishment when achieved?

5. What help will you need from the Forum or your network of peers in implementing your plan?

One representative from each country provided a brief report on the plans developed, with each report taking a slightly different

form. The country reports are summarized in the order in which they occurred.

Mali Most critical in Mali is getting government support for

school nutrition by creating a national policy. The most important change that needs to occur in Mali is to get government support and ownership for school nutrition. Having WFP support is necessary, but those from Mali want the lead-ership for their school nutrition program to come from Mali, not from the WFP. So, upon returning home, the first step of the Mali contingency is to translate the action plan that has been developed into French so everyone involved will clearly understand who does what. But then the most crucial action is to organize a forum—planned for September or October—that brings together the key school nutrition stakeholders to share ideas and propose a draft of a school nutrition national policy. Once proposed, the intent is to share this policy with the Council of Ministers and the Parliament. Having an accepted policy is necessary to get the budget from the government.

“A national [school nutrition] policy is the key to everything. All other actions follow.” ⎯ Representative from Mali

The key groups to making school nutrition in Mali sustain-able are the government, communities, and donors. For school nutrition to be sustainable in Mali, the government must take the lead and must make a formal commitment to school nutrition, as has been done in the US. This commitment is both for funding as well as for nutrition and hygiene. Securing this commitment will require creativity and ingenuity. The other key groups that must be involved to make school feeding sustainable are local communities and donors. Local communities can be attracted by making school nutrition pro-grams into income-generating activities. Donors will want to see that the programs are cost effective and that they help achieve better health.

Next steps include a forum of key stakeholders and creation of an informational database. The specific next steps cited include holding the previously men-tioned forum to exchange ideas and best practices, and to push forward a national policy. Another next step is to create a com-puter database that tracks the school nutrition programs in Mali, indicating who is doing what. An additional activity is to link the action plan that has been developed with a budget, and to fit them into the country’s existing ten-year education plan.

Mali will look to GCNF and peers for a great deal of support. Those from Mali look to participate in an African network and in future GCNF events. They have interest in exchange programs



to see how other countries are implementing school nutrition programs, and are particularly interested in learning how other countries have had success in forming partnerships with and attracting involvement from the private sector. They also desire to learn more about techniques to strengthen the capacity of local communities, such as through incomegenerating activities and micro-credit schemes.

Ethiopia When achieved, the greatest accomplishments in Ethiopia will be a sustained school feeding program that feeds the children of the country. This program will help create a sustainable community and will also help decrease the gender disparity that exists, encouraging more girls to attend school.

The immediate need in Ethiopia is to secure political support for school feeding. Upon returning home, the immediate next step will be to brief the Minister of Education on what was learned at GCNF and what other countries are doing. The goal is to convince the Minister of Education to own and to push for school foodservice. (Securing the support of the Minister of Finance is also necessary.)

“The most important individual in pursuing long-term sustainable school feeding in Ethiopia is the Minister of Education.” ⎯ Representative from Ethiopia

In addition, the other key action that needs to take place is to push for finalizing a school health and nutrition framework. This provides the foundation for school feeding.

The most important individuals in achieving a sustainable school feeding program are the Ministers of Education and Finance. It is essential to get the support of the Minister of Education and of the entire Ministry of Education at the federal, state, and local levels. The entire department needs to understand, accept, and buy into the fact that a school feeding program affects the overall school and the education received by students. The other important individual/department is the Minister (and Ministry) of Finance. Support here is necessary in order to mobilize the resources that are needed. The WFP has been and remains a true partner, but it is neces-sary to mobilize other partners. One way to do this is to organize a forum involving high-level government officials and donors, to have school feeding prominently on the agenda, and to make a case to this audience about why school feeding is so important.

Among the key next steps are working to build alliances with potential partners. In addition to finalizing the school feeding framework, attention must be devoted to building alliances with partners that can provide and mobilize resources to aid in school feeding. Plans are in place on this front that need to be implemented.

The representatives from Ethiopia desire support and part-nership from GCNF. Support is desired in two ways:

1. Helping the group from Ethiopia reach out to and contact those members of the Ethiopian Diaspora now in the US. Many of these individuals have money and resources that could be used to support school feeding in Ethiopia.

2. Helping the group organize a national workshop on school feeding (held in Ethiopia and financed by Ethiopia) to increase knowledge about school feeding among the country’s policy-makers and private-sector interests. In addition, the group would like other GCNF members to attend and share infor-mation, which will be very enlightening to those in Ethiopia.

Honduras The long-term goal for school feeding in Honduras is local-program ownership of school feeding programs. The strategy in Honduras is to focus initially on school feeding at pre-schools and primary schools. After successful testing of the program at those levels, with adequate resources school feeding will be expanded to secondary schools.

The most immediate need in Honduras is to educate teachers and parents about nutrition. Unlike the other countries presenting, which focused on securing government support for school feeding, the plan for Honduras focuses on education. The education efforts should target edu-cators and parents and should focus on health and nutrition. This education is expected to ensure progress in getting school feeding programs to be owned on a local basis by parents and educators and effectively implemented.

“The most immediate need in Honduras is educating parents [about nutrition and health].” ⎯ Representative from Honduras

In addition to education, the next steps to expand school feeding focus on communication. Specifically, the plan calls for expanding school feeding by com-municating its success in Honduras. Communication through television, radio, and newspapers will be used to create greater visibility for school feeding. In addition, a key to expanding school feeding is mobilizing resources through local private-sector donors.

Needed from the GCNF is technical assistance. The specific technical assistance desired is help creating eval-uations and research that links school nutrition to education.

Pakistan After experiencing problems with an initial school feeding program, this program has been revised and is now being implemented in phases.



The most immediate need in Pakistan is an integrated national school feeding plan. An initial school feeding plan was launched in Pakistan in 2002. Much was learned over the past five years, and some problems were experienced. As a result, the program was revised, and a new program was implemented in March of 2007. Its first phase targets girls in 10 of the poorest districts of the country. Initial results are promising, as enrollment has increased by 20%. What is most needed in Pakistan is an integrated national school feeding plan that includes all children and all of the components related to school nutrition. The various pilots and school feeding programs that are currently underway would all fit in as part of this overall integrated plan. Pakistan has asked WFP to provide experts to assist in formulating a systematic integrated national plan. There is hope that such experts can be available in August and September to begin developing such a plan.

The most important stakeholders are from various govern-ment ministries and from the private sector. Key government ministries include the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Welfare, and the Ministry of Education. In addition, provincial governments are important, as is the govern-ment’s planning commission, which prepares the government’s budget.

“All of these government stakeholders need to be on board to have good coordination.” ⎯ Representative from Pakistan

It is also necessary to bring in the private sector. Today private-sector companies only supply food; they are not involved in in-fluencing the government to increase school feeding programs—and they need to be. The plan developed by the group from Paki-stan includes bringing the private sector into the school feeding planning process. One way to do so is through collaboration with Chambers of Commerce.

Once the integrated plan is developed, building the capacity to implement it is the key next step. Implementing the plan that is eventually developed will require adequate capacity. Capacity does exist within government, the private sector, communities, and schools—but it needs to be enhanced and coordinated. Enhancement requires training. Coordination is the task of the Ministry of Social Welfare, the lead coordinator of Pakistan’s school feeding program.

Needed from GCNF is information and technical assistance. As Pakistan develops its integrated national school feeding plan and seeks to expand its current capacity, the representatives from Pakistan desire information from GCNF about best prac-tices. They also want further network opportunities from GCNF, technical assistance and expertise, and help developing the capabilities needed to implement what will eventually be a large and complex school feeding program.

Kenya The goal of the group from Kenya is to assure that policies are in place to guide school feeding programs in Kenya and that school feeding has financial backing.

The most immediate need in Kenya is a legal framework for school feeding. The key need and most immediate action step for the group from Kenya is to draw up a legal framework—in the form of a draft policy—that links school nutrition with learning.

“Our most immediate need is to draw up a legal framework that links school nutrition with learning.” ⎯ Representative from Kenya

Other needs include drawing up an inventory of government needs related to school feeding, to be developed in the form of a brief by the Ministry of Education, and for communities to see the need to involve the business sector. One other next step that is planned is a technical meeting to deal with the responsibilities related to home-grown food for education programs.

Key stakeholders include legal experts, the right govern-ment ministries, and the private sector. Since the key next step is creation of a legal framework for school feeding, it is necessary for legal experts to be involved in drawing up this framework. In addition, the Minister of Education and his staff will be key stakeholders in pushing this forward. The private sector will be highly important as well, as will the WFP’s continuing involvement.

Desired from the GCNF is sharing of information and technical assistance. Since the GCNF doesn’t provide funding, it can be of most value by sharing information/experiences and supplying technical assistance, especially related to project planning.

CANADA ETHIOPIA

GHANA HONDURAS JAMAICA

KENYA MALI PAKISTAN

WORLD FOODPROGRAMME

SOUTH AFRICA

BRAZIL

UNITED STATES

School Feeding Development ConferenceJuly 12-17, 2007 | Chicago, Illinois USA

Documents

Executive Summary Global Child Nutrition Forum: …docs.schoolnutrition.org/files/GCNF/2007 GCNF - Exec...NO WAY DOES GLOBAL CHILD NUTRITION FORUM, SCHOOL NUTRITION ASSOCIATION, OR