FAO Promotes the Inclusion of Aquatic Foods in School Feeding Programs

Santiago, Chile - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched a new regional project to strengthen School Feeding Programs in Belize, Bolivia, and Honduras by incorporating aquatic foods from local fisheries and aquaculture. 

In line with the FAO and the United Nations World Food Programme's approach to school feeding with local products, the initiative aims to reinforce the integration of these products into school feeding programs through local public procurement mechanisms, prioritizing supplies from small-scale fishers and aquaculture producers. This is expected to boost their production and cultivation, improve the livelihoods and incomes of participants, and increase access to aquatic products and healthy diets for schoolchildren. 

In Latin America and the Caribbean, it is estimated that approximately 85 million people depend directly or indirectly on fishing. According to the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), fisheries and aquaculture production in the region reached 17.7 million tons in 2023, representing 8% of the global total, rising to 9% when considering only the production of aquatic animals. 

“This project is part of the FAO’s Blue Transformation initiative, which promotes sustainable, ecosystem-based fisheries management to conserve resources, strengthen resilience, and ensure that fisheries continue to provide food and livelihoods for future generations,” explained Alicia Medina, FAO Fisheries Officer. 

The project creates synergy by combining the Blue Transformation with efforts to implement and strengthen school feeding programs using the Sustainable Schools methodology developed by the FAO. 

This methodology promotes public procurement of food from family farms, aligning dietary guidelines, and improving the nutritional quality of school menus. It also seeks to expand access to healthy diets; improve infrastructure and financing; foster community participation and healthy food environments; ensure inter-institutional and inter-sectoral coordination; and provide food and nutrition education. 

"Consuming aquatic foods improves nutrition and health because they are a source of protein with easily digestible essential amino acids, and contain omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A, D, and B12, and minerals such as iron, zinc, and iodine. With this project, we will promote the sustainable schools methodology, which improves the livelihoods of the school community and increases access to healthy diets for children, generating impacts on education, nutrition, and rural development, and guaranteeing the Right to Adequate Food," explained Daniela Godoy, Senior Policy Officer for Food Security and Nutrition at the FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean. 

An Opportunity Through Public Policy 

School Feeding Programs represent one of the social public policies with the broadest coverage and largest budget allocation in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

In 2022, approximately 80.3 million preschool, primary, and secondary school children in public educational institutions benefited from these programs in 31 countries of the region, positioning it as second worldwide in student coverage, with an estimated regional investment of US$7.6 billion. 

This initiative includes: 

• The development and validation of an action plan for the inclusion of aquatic foods in public procurement mechanisms, which will include a feasibility study, nutritional analysis, and the registry of local fishers and aquaculture producers. 
• Capacity building for small-scale artisanal fishers, aquaculture producers, technical staff, processors, cooks, and vendors in the areas of food and nutrition education, storage, value-added processing, and food safety. 
• A training program for the educational community involved in National School Feeding Programs. 
• The development of a sustainable gastronomy strategy to create and compile local recipes based on aquatic foods in a book specifically adapted for school menus. 

This project is funded by the Flexible Voluntary Contributions (FVC) instrument, currently comprised of Belgium, the Government of Flanders, the Principality of Monaco, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Norway, the Qatar Fund for Development, Sweden, and the Swiss Confederation.