Sustainable School Feeding Network starts virtual exchange cycle for professionals from 14 countries

The Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES) launched this week the Exchange Cycle “PAE in Focus: Understanding challenges and building pathways towards sustainable school feeding”. Around two thousand participants from 14 countries in the region have registered for the training.

This South-South cooperation initiative aims to strengthen technical and political capacities to implement, consolidate and scale up sustainable school feeding programmes in participating countries, integrating approaches of rights, sustainability, territoriality and inclusion with the support of RAES.

Najla Veloso, Executive Secretary of RAES and Senior School Feeding Specialist at FAO, highlighted that this regional training seeks to promote and strengthen school feeding as a strategic public policy to transform food systems, guarantee the right to adequate food, and foster healthy, resilient and culturally relevant school environments.

The RAES Network is a strategy of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme on school feeding, promoted by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC/MRE) and the National Fund for Educational Development of the Ministry of Education (FNDE/MEC) of Brazil, with the executive secretariat of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In the first edition of the cycle, professionals from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela are participating.

Through a message sent for the opening of the training, Máximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist and Acting Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasized the connection between school feeding programmes and the results of the report The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025, which for the third consecutive year shows a decrease in hunger and food insecurity indicators.

Fernanda Pacobahyba, President of FNDE, also sent a message to participants, highlighting the importance of RAES so that “we can learn together, face common challenges and strengthen our public policies based on evidence, on respect for each people’s food culture, and on the commitment to productive inclusion.” FNDE was also represented by the coordinator of the Brazilian National School Feeding Program (PNAE), Karine Santos, who reinforced the role of international cooperation in strengthening school feeding programmes in the region.

Representing the government of Paraguay, the Minister of Social Development (MDS), Tadeo Rojas, stated that the training is important because it is focused on “identifying the challenges that we face in each of our countries in order to build pathways towards sustainable school feeding.” He also stressed that the RAES Network “brings us together to strengthen ties of cooperation and to reinforce a solid fabric that protects the boys and girls of our region.”

Iván León, FAO Representative in Paraguay, added that school feeding programmes are advancing and being strengthened in the region — a commitment reflected in specific laws — but acknowledged that challenges remain, such as universal coverage for students and improving the quality of the food offered.

The FAO Representative in Paraguay recalled that the work of the Brazilian government and FAO in the region since 2009 has been generating impactful results. “PAE in Focus is a comprehensive response and an opportunity to continue moving forward based on years of experience. Through knowledge exchange and joint construction, we can ensure that school feeding policies are more robust and sustainable.”

Mariana Falcão, project analyst and deputy head of South-South trilateral cooperation with international organizations at ABC/MRE, emphasized the relevance of school feeding for the Agency and praised the participants’ interest in “deepening knowledge and carrying out exchanges in favor of the development of our school feeding programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Daniela Godoy, Senior Food Security and Nutrition Policy Officer at FAO, stressed that the reduction of food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean is linked to school feeding programme. “The changes we see in this region have to do with school feeding programmes (SFP). They contribute to essential rights, not only to adequate food but also to the rights to education and health.”

In his presentation, Israel Ríos, FAO Nutrition Officer, said that school feeding programmes are tools for transforming food environments. “It is not just about providing food, but also about educating on healthy eating through that plate of food as a learning vehicle, and through complementary interventions such as pedagogical school gardens, teacher training, and awareness-raising on healthy diets that can break the cycle of hunger, malnutrition and child undernutrition.”