20/04/2021 20 April 2021, Praia – The small island developing state of Cabo Verde, off the west African coast, faces recurrent droughts and other environmental and socio-economic vulnerabilities. Recognizing the extent of needs, a national school feeding programme began in 1979 with the support of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). After more than 30 years of implementation and 100 percent of primary schools covered, the Government of Cabo Verde took over funding and managing the programme, with the Ministries of Education, Health and Agriculture, and local municipalities and non-governmental organizations.
In the transition phase from WFP to the national authorities, from 2010 to 2015, FAO developed and led the implementation of a UN Joint Programme, the National School Feeding and Health Programme, known by the Portuguese acronym PNASE, which supported the country to progressively shift from a basic school feeding programme to a more comprehensive approach including school gardens, locally-purchased fresh produce, and nutrition education.
Today, more than 86 000 school children in Cabo Verde benefit from school meals. The school meals and health programme is considered a solid success, and is one of the major factors that contributes to Cabo Verde’s high enrolment rate of around 96 percent, for boys and girls and in primary and secondary schools.
FAO’s role
As the lead agency for the Joint Programme, FAO was responsible for the integration and supervision of all components and activities and ensured synergies among the other agencies.
The programme had four main components: to reinforce and improve kindergarten and primary school students’ access to a balanced food basket; diversify school meals with local products and generate economic opportunities for local producers (men and women); reinforce primary school students’ knowledge of food and the environment through educational school gardens; and reinforce the knowledge and skills of the school community in nutrition and hygiene, and integrate nutrition into the school curriculum.
FAO’s work also supported the Government of Cabo Verde to create a legal framework for the programme, which helped enshrine school feeding into national law in 2015, and supported full and effective national ownership.
Lasting impacts
The programme has enhanced nutrition, health and hygiene education for children, their families and the surrounding communities, and the school staff including teachers and cooks. It has also promoted the purchase of fresh, nutritious produce from local farmers, integrating with local economic activities and widening economic opportunities. It not only supports school children’s food and nutrition security but also social protection for the poorest families and contributes to gender equality.
In more recent years, Cabo Verde has adopted a rights-based approach to food and nutrition security, enshrined in its law on the Human Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition (2018). The law makes explicit the principles that lay the foundation for the Right to Food, among them: non-discrimination, equity, human dignity, protection of vulnerable people, people’s empowerment and participation, and policy transparency.
The PNASE has achieved all the expected results in spades, not only in providing fresh nutritious food to schoolchildren all over the country, but it also put into action a well-structured delivery mechanism that enjoys public recognition.
Partnership for success
The programme was implemented in coordination with a strong network of partners, which are now key to keeping activities close to the real needs of the population and for promoting complementarity and synergy among different sectors such as education, health and the economy.
To replicate this programme’s success in other countries, FAO recommends robust, effective inter-complementarity. Governments must take the lead, ensuring school meals programmes are supported through policies, laws and nationally-funded programmes.
Knowledge sharing through exchanges of experience with other countries is also very important to provide the programme with best practices and lessons learned in school nutrition.
Technical partners
- World Food Programme (WFP)
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- Government of Cabo Verde
Resource partners
- Coopération Luxembourgeoise
