Santiago de Chile, June 1, 2023 - The importance of governance policy and regulatory frameworks for school feeding programmes will be the topic discussed in a session with professionals from Caribbean countries. The virtual event will be held on June 6 and is the third and last of a series  of three virtual sessions organized to share knowledge, experiences and good practices on “Resilient and Sustainable School Feeding Programmes”. The other two sessions took place in the second semester last year and looked at nutrition guidelines and education, procurement from local farmers for school feeding and school gardens. 

This session on “governance, policy and regulatory frameworks” will be carried out jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation, the Mexico-CARICOM-FAO Initiative and the Caribbean Agro-Economic Society (CAAES) in association with the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus. The event will  take place virtually at 2 pm (EST Time) for a duration of 2 hours and a half.

The training session will be an integral part of the 34th West Indies Agricultural Economics Conference 2023 that will take place during the week of 4-9 June 2023 in Nassau, the Bahamas. The West Indies Agricultural Economics Conference is the major activity of the Caribbean Agro-Economic Society  which was formally launched in 1974 with, among others, the objective of facilitating a forum for exchange and flow of ideas between universities, regional and government institutions and the private sector with respect to matters related to the economics of agricultural production and related industries.

The attempt, with this webinar, is to offer a forum for discussion, reflection, learning and sharing of experiences, practices and methodological tools between key stakeholders involved in the designing and implementation of school feeding programmes in the Caribbean and other stakeholders throughout the Latin America and the Caribbean and FAO with proven experience in school feeding.  Special attention will be given to stakeholders from Bahamas, Belize, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica.

All those countries have received in the past, assistance and training support from both the FAO/Brazil Technical Cooperation through the project “Consolidation of School Feeding Programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean” and/or the Mexico-CARICOM-FAO Initiative. Furthermore, stakeholders from regional institutions performing in the Caribbean and from other CARICOM countries are kindly welcome to join the forum.

The session will have a presentation by Manuela Cuvi, a FAO Legal Officer with vast experience in the field of school feeding regulatory frameworks. It will also feature successful experiences from Brazil and Mexico, as well as the participation of representatives of the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), the Brazilian Agency for Cooperation (ABC), the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID), the National System for the Comprehensive Development of the Family (SNDIF) and from CAAES and UWI. Of particular interest will also be a presentation made CAAES to share their methodology in assisting countries in the caribbean to strengthen National School feeding programs.

There will be ample opportunity in this third virtual session for public interaction to discuss the possibilities and paths towards the consolidation and improvement of school feeding policies in the region.