FAO and global partners promote alliances to strengthen the financing of school feeding programmes

Stronger national commitments, partnerships and multisectoral financing strategies were at the heart of the dialogue held to ensure that school meals programmes reach their full potential as a transformative policy for resilient agrifood systems, food security, nutrition, and inclusive development during the event entitled “Investing in the future: Building partnerships and strengthening financing for healthier School Meals Programmes”.

The encounter was hosted as a part of the 53rd Plenary Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) -taking place in Rome the week from 20 to 24 October- and focused on sharing best practices for financing and collaboration to drive agrifood resilience, and access to affordable healthy diets for school aged children.

FAO’s Chief Economist and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean a.i., Maximo Torero, drew attention to the financing gap that persists despite investments of nearly 50 billion USD in 2022. “As fiscal pressures on governments intensify, there is a growing risk that school feeding programmes may not reach those who need them most. While 84 percent of countries report having a specific annual budget for school feeding, only one-third say that available resources are sufficient to ensure adequate coverage and quality”, he stated.

Alongside him, the Project analyst from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency Paola Barbieri highlighted that “school feeding has, over the past 20 years, gained a strategic place on the agenda of Brazilian South-South Cooperation. In this journey, we have been counting on the valuable partnership of FAO and WFP. Through them, we have already cooperated with around 80 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean”. She mentioned the Sustainable School Feeding Network, the Coalition, and the Global Alliance as strategic spaces for Brazil’s participation in the field of school feeding.

The event was jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Swedish FAO Committee, the World Food Programme (WFP) and their Centre of Excellence, the School Meals Coalition and the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES), the Government of Brazil through Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), the government of Sweden, the government of Kenya through the State Department of Agriculture, The government of Ukraine through the Ministry of Education and Science, the Swedish Food Agency and a wide range of partners from governments, civil society, and the private sector.

The virtuous circle of school meals programmes: country experiences

On behalf of the National School Feeding Program (PNAE) of Brazil, Karine Santos highlighted the country’s pioneering experience in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean.  “The program respects the food culture and the nutritional and health needs of students, integrates Food and Nutrition Education (EAN) into the school curriculum, and encourages the purchase of food from family farming, contributing to sustainable development and equity in access to food”, she said.

RAES, the Ministry of Education of Brazil, and the WFP Centre of Excellence coincided in stressing their commitment to supporting countries in strengthening their school feeding programmes, such as PNAE that currently serves around 39 million students in 146,000 schools and was recently updated to further reduce ultra processed foods and boost public purchases to family agriculture, while ensuring that 50% of purchase value goes to women led businesses. In addition, the mandatory minimum of 30% public purchase from family farming for the School Feeding Programme increased to 45%.

Kenya’s experience was portrayed by their Permanent Representative to United Nations Rome based Agencies, Ambassador Frederick Matwang’a, who emphasized his country’s efforts to expand coverage through a pilot national school meals programme that centralizes preparation to guarantee quality standards and, also, empowers women and youth by employing them in the collection of food. “School meals are far more than a plate of food but engines of transformation. When we invest in school meals, we invest in our children, our farmers, and our planet”, he said.

Likewise, the Unit Manager at the Swedish Food Agency, Britta Ekman, told attendants that Sweden has a tax-funded hot meal programme for children since the 1940’s that covers from preschoolers to upper secondary students. “Over the years, a key insight has emerged: school meals must be viewed holistically. This approach is captured in the Swedish Food Agency’s Meal Model, which outlines six quality areas: tasty, safe, nutritious, pleasant, eco-smart, and integrated” to reach long-term benefits in health, education, income, and social equity as students perform better academically and report higher quality of life. “The full potential of what school meals could provide is not yet reached”, she concluded.

Multi stakeholder approach for cooperation and financing

The event gave way to voices from UN agencies, multilateral organizations, civil society and private sector as key players in ensuring innovative approaches for sustainable financing of school meals programmes.

Among them was the Head of the School Meals Coalition Secretariat hosted by the UN’s World Food Programme, María José Rojas, who said that “this is exactly the type of dialogue that testifies to how the School Meals Coalition works – a government-led effort where success lies with governments, supported by a network of networks mobilizing civil society, UN agencies, and other partners, like the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, to move the school meals agenda forward.”

Karin Höglund, Sweden Permanent Representative designated to FAO concluded noting that “Investing in school meals progammes pays off” and that “School meal programmes contribute to healthy diets, stronger local economies, equality, improved education outcomes and can ultimately strengthen the resilience of agrifood systems”.