Global School Feeding Sourcebook

Lessons from 14 Countries

Lesley Drake, Alice Woolnough, Carmen Burbano;Donald Bundy

• Publisher: ICP
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781783269136
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Nutrition, Dietics & Bariatrics

Compiled by the Partnership for Child Development at Imperial College London, the World Food Programme, the World Bank and the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development, this is the first sourcebook of its kind to document government-led school feeding programmes in low and middle income countries. It includes a compilation of concise but comprehensive chapters about national programmes in 14 countries from sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. The sourcebook highlights the trade-offs associated with alternative school feeding models and analyses the overarching themes, trends and challenges which run across these programmes.

This sourcebook supports learning and knowledge exchange among countries looking to strengthen and scale-up national school feeding programmes. The evidence presented here sheds light on identified global good practices which can be employed to improve the quality and effectiveness of programmes that positively impact on millions of children and communities worldwide.

Contents:

• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Boxes, Figures and Tables
• Glossary
• Executive Summary
• Introduction to the Sourcebook
• Analysis of the Case Studies:
  • Design and Implementation
  • Policy and Legal Frameworks
  • Institutional Arrangements
  • Funding and Budgeting
  • Community Participation
• The Case Studies:
  • Botswana — National School Feeding Programme
  • Brazil — Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE)
  • Cape Verde — National School Nutrition Programme
  • Chile — Programa de Alimentacion Escolar (PAE)
  • Côte d'Ivoire — Programme Intégré de Pérennisation des Cantines Scolaires (PIP/CS)
  • Ecuador — School Food Programme
  • Ghana — The Ghana School Feeding Programme
  • India — Mid-Day Meal Scheme
  • Kenya — Home Grown School Meals Programme
  • Mali — Programme National d'Alimentation Scolaire
  • Mexico — Desayunos Escolares
  • Namibia — The Namibia School Feeding Programme
  • Nigeria — Osun State Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O'Meals Programme)
  • South Africa — National School Nutrition Programme

Readership: Programme managers, policy makers and academics from governmental, multilateral and bi-lateral organisations, NGOs and academic institutions in the fields of education, public health, nutrition and agriculture.
Key Features:

• First sourcebook of its kind
• Countries are increasing their school feeding coverage and are demanding easily accessible information on how other countries have achieved their aims
• Written by world renowned experts from two of the leading global organisations in this field

Case Study 1: Botswana — National School Feeding Programme

Country Profile

Population in 2011: 2,000,000 (Statistics Botswana, 2011a).

Gross Domestic Product Per Capita in 2012 (US$): 7,191 (World Bank, 2013).

Population ages 0–14 years in 2012 (% of total): 34 (World Bank, 2013).

Primary School Gross Enrollment Ratio (6–12 years and 7–13 years) in 2011 (%): 113 and 99 (Statistics Botswana, 2011b).

Primary School Net Enrollment Ratio in 2009 (%): 84 (World Bank, 2013).

Under-fives suffering from stunting (moderate and severe) in 2007–2011 (%): 31 (UNICEF, 2013).

Employment in agriculture in 2006 (% of total employment): 30 (World Bank, 2013).

Introduction

Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa (Figure 1) with a total population of approximately 2 million in 2011 (Statistics Botswana, 2011a). Two-thirds of the country is desert and has semi-arid environments. Although Botswana was one of the poorest countries in the world at independence in 1966, it became one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and achieved middle-income status by 1994. The gross domestic product growth rate averaged 9% per year in the years up to 2007–2008 (Republic of Botswana, 2010). This growth is largely due to its rich diamond base and other mineral resources such as copper–nickel and soda ash, coupled with prudent economic management.

Figure 1: Map of Botswana by region and in Africa

Source: GADM (2013).

Government revenue especially from mining has been used to build infrastructure and to provide social services such as health, education, and training. However, Botswana’s wealth is unevenly distributed with unemployment still high at 18% especially among youth and school graduates at various levels (Statistics Botswana, 2011c). The incidence of poverty, although decreasing, is relatively high,¹ and is higher in rural areas than in urban centers. Using the less than 1 dollar a day threshold, poverty in rural areas in 2009–2010 was 8% compared to 6% in urban villages, and 3% in cities and towns.² In addition, the global economic downturn did not spare Botswana as the economy experienced 6% shrinkage in 2009 due to a decrease in the mineral export revenues (Statistics Botswana, 2011c).

Botswana is a semi-desert country with most parts of the country characterized by poor agricultural potential. The agriculture sector provides only 3% of the formal private sector and parastatal employment (Republic of Botswana, 2010). The two main components of the sector are livestock and arable production. Arable agriculture is based on traditional communal and subsistence farming, with limited commercial activity. Livestock is the dominant subsector accounting for 74% in 1993–1994 and 55% in 2007–2008 of the agricultural gross domestic product.

Rain fed agriculture dominates the subsistence agricultural sector and the food producing areas are mainly in the eastern districts of the country. The main food crops grown in Botswana are sorghum, maize, millet, and legumes (bambara nuts, groundnuts, and cowpeas) and fresh produce such as watermelons, butternuts, pumpkin, and sweet reeds. However, agriculture is still characterized by low productivity and production.

Available data show that the population of public primary school children between the ages of 6 and 12 years increased from 272,143 in 1997 to 299,497 in 2007 (Republic of Botswana, 2011; Central Statistics Office, 2005; Central Statistics Office, 2011; Central Statistics Office, 2012). The gross enrollment ratio for 6–12 year olds and 7–13 year olds were 113% and 99% in 2011, respectively (Statistics Botswana, 2011b), indicating that Botswana is in principle able to accommodate all of its school-age population. Overall, enrollment trends for public primary schools in Botswana have stabilized at over 330,000 school children since 2009, making it possible for authorities to plan (project) the school feeding budget. Total education expenditure as a percentage of the gross domestic product during the period 2001–2010 has shown large variations, between 6% and 12%, with a drop to 1% and 10% in 2008 and 2010, respectively, as a result of the global financial crisis.

The total underweight prevalence among under-fives declined from 15% to 4% between 1993 and 2009. In using only this indicator to measure child nutrition status and health, Botswana has experienced substantive improvement in child nutrition in the last 15 years.

Botswana has successfully implemented its National School Feeding Programme since 1998. The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) is the institution responsible for program implementation, but school feeding is also one of several vulnerable group feeding and food security programs co-ordinated as part of The Revised National Food Strategy under the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (Republic of Botswana, 2000).

School feeding initially started in 1966 in response to widespread malnutrition among children resulting from a continuous five-year drought period. The country was also not self-sufficient in food production and like other African countries, Botswana started its National School Feeding Programme with the financial and implementation assistance from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), a situation that prevailed until 1993 when the gradual process of WFP’s withdrawal of resources and implementation assistance started. By this time, it was evident that the number of school feeding beneficiaries had steadily increased (300,419 beneficiaries in 672 public primary schools across the country in 1993), but in addition, Botswana had graduated to a middle-income country, and the government was no longer eligible for WFP support. The period between 1993 and 1997 is considered as a transition period, WFP’s resources and implementation support decreased as the government increasingly took more control over implementation. Since 1998, school feeding has been modified and refined over the years. Among the changes was the government’s investment in improved infrastructure, partially decentralizing the procurement process and modifications to the menu.

The Botswana National School Feeding Programme has universal coverage and reaches school children (grades 1–7) in all government-owned/public primary schools in the country, providing one meal a day to over 330,000 school children. Through the Remote Area Dweller Programme, a second meal is provided to school children in very remote areas or from marginalized communities. The MLGRD primarily uses a centralized procurement model to buy the dry and non-perishable food supplies in bulk and delivers them to districts. The purchase of perishable food items is decentralized to the District Councils. Since 2009, the Councils also purchase fresh/seasonal crops from local farmers, albeit on a small scale.

Methodology

This chapter is largely drawn from The Botswana School Feeding Programme: A Case Study (Republic of Botswana, 2012) and on information from the report Botswana: The Transition to a National School Feeding Programme (Isler, 2012a).

This chapter provides an overview of the Botswana National School Feeding Programme, to include experience with the Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programmes. There was also interest to identify critical points across the supply chain that has led to the program’s success. Both secondary and primary data collection methods were used. Primary data collection was limited to qualitative methodologies which included key informant interviews, and focus group discussions from a wide range of stakeholders involved in the program, to include national-, district- and school-level government staff, suppliers, and community members. In addition, regional and national stakeholder workshops were held to validate the data.

Country School Feeding Program Factsheet

Start Date		1998 (program initially started in 1966 with WFP support).
Design and Implementation	Rational/Impact	Objectives are to:
		• Prevent school children from feeling hungry during school. • Provide school children with a balanced diet. • Keep school children in school for the entire day. • Improve school attendance.
	Implementation Levels	Universal coverage, reaches all school children in grades 1–7 in government-owned/public primary schools. In 2011, 332,972 school children were reached through 750 public primary schools.
	Supply, Storage, and Logistics	Suppliers distribute commodities to the Food Depots (four regional and 20 Districts). The Food Depots* are managed by the Division of Food Relief Services at the MLGRD. The trucks from the Division of Food Relief Services supply food commodities to the public primary schools.
	Modality, Food Basket Details	One daily mid-morning hot meal provides a third of the daily energy requirements. In the Remote Area Dwellers’ Districts, a second meal (the same as the mid-morning meal) is provided.
	Food Preparation	Food is prepared at school by cooks identified from the community, but paid by the government.
Policy and Legal Frameworks Documents		• Suggested Guidelines on the Management of Primary School Feeding Programmes in Botswana (Bornay et al., 1993). • The Revised National Food Strategy (Republic...

Table of contents

• Cover page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Boxes, Figures, and Tables
• Glossary
• Executive Summary
• Introduction to the Sourcebook
• Design and Implementation
• Policy and Legal Frameworks
• Institutional Arrangements
• Funding and Budgeting
• Community Participation
• Case Study 1: Botswana — National School Feeding Programme
• Case Study 2: Brazil — National School Feeding Programme
• Case Study 3: Cape Verde — National School Nutrition Programme
• Case Study 4: Chile — Programa de Alimentacion Escolar (PAE)
• Case Study 5: Côte d’Ivoire — Programme Intégré de Pérennisation des Cantines Scolaires (PIP/CS)
• Case Study 6: Ecuador — School Food Program
• Case Study 7: Ghana — The Ghana School Feeding Programme
• Case Study 8: India — Mid-Day Meal Scheme
• Case Study 9: Kenya — Home Grown School Meals Programme
• Case Study 10: Mali — Programme National d’Alimentation Scolaire
• Case Study 11: Mexico — Desayunos Escolares
• Case Study 12: Namibia — The Namibia School Feeding Programme
• Case Study 13: Nigeria — Osun State Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O-MEALS Programme)
• Case Study 14: South Africa — National School Nutrition Programme
• Index