Brazil and FAO partnering to strengthen School Feeding Programmes in Africa

13-16 May 2014, Accra - Studies have shown the negative impact of malnutrition and food insecurity on children’s health, growth and development as well as school attendance and performance, putting at risk the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 1 and 2, related to eradicate extreme poverty & hunger and achieve universal primary education, respectively.

Among these evidence-based programmes, aimed at improving food and nutrition security, School Feeding Programmes (SFPs) are of great relevance and are widely recognized as an efficient social protection and nutrition tools to ensure the right to adequate food.

There is potential benefit of promoting local economies through local purchases from home grown food and family farms, and transfer of resources to the most vulnerable groups.

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the Brazilian Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), the Brazilian Agency for Cooperation of the Ministry of External Relations (ABC/MRE) and Regional Institutions will start the implementation of a new project “Strengthening of School Feeding Programmes in Africa”, signed in Brasília, last August 2013, by the president of FNDE, José Carlos Wanderley Dias de Freitas and FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

"This school feeding programme will further complement the existing south-south cooperation initiatives between Brazil and African countries in food security and sustainable agricultural production", said Dr. Lamourdia Thiombiano, FAO Regional Deputy Regional Representative, addressing participants at the Project Inception Workshop and first meeting of the project steering committee, in Accra.

“The project will also promote technical cooperation related to school feeding programs and how their linkages with family farming can boost local economic development. It will source school meal programs to local family farms, creating synergies that strengthen food security, child nutrition and the livelihoods of small farmers and their communities”, he added.

A Growing political commitment

The project will complement the efforts made by governments and regional institutions to create an enabling environment by increasing the political commitment, strengthening the institutional and legislative environment, as well as developing capacities and involving the local producers.

In 2003, Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) was identified by African Union as having an immediate impact on food security in Africa, and therefore important contributor to long-term development goals. In 2007, African Ministers of Education endorsed the HGSFP. Similarly, Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) is recognized by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as an important strategy for the region´s food and nutrition security.

In this regard, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has established school feeding based on nationally produced food as regional and national priorities.

Representatives from Brazil, FAO and key partners are meeting during the following days to share experiences and take decisions on project activities and implementation. Their expectations and objectives are three-fold:

- Share information on the Brazil-FAO Partnership ;
- Share knowledge and experiences from Brazil, FAO, African countries and NEPAD on Home Grown school feeding programmes;
- Build a common vision and understanding, by all stakeholders, of the goals and nature of the project and how it can add value to on-going country level efforts.

The project fits well within the context of the endorsement of a 2025 zero hunger target, by the Executive Council of the African Union, and the 2014 African Year of Agriculture and Food Security and International Year of Family Farming.

Learning from partners

Under the Brazil’s National School Feeding Programme (PNAE), school feeding has been both institutionalized and legally strengthened, reaching more than 45 million students in almost 250,000 schools (from nursery to high schools and youths and adults), with one or more servings of food per day. This vast experience puts Brazil in a vantage position to support and share experiences with other developing countries in the context of south-south cooperation.

Similar efforts that are already underway aim at getting closer the relationship between school feeding programs and family agriculture. The Purchase from Africans for Africa programme or PAA, a groundbreaking initiative to empower smallholder farmers has been rolled out in five African nations: Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger and Senegal.

Partners
The Brazilian National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE)
The Brazilian Agency of Cooperation (ABC)
World Food Programme’s Purchase for Progress (P4P)
DFID

Contacts
Liliane Kambirigi
[email protected]

Ewurama Greenslade
[email protected]