What is WFP’s school meals programme?

WFP’s school meals programme entails three elements:

In-school meals are one way in which the programmes operate. Children are fed breakfast, lunch or both in

school. These meals can be prepared in schools, in the community or be delivered from centralized kitchens.

Some in-school meal programmes provide complete meals, while others provide high energy biscuits or

snacks.

Take-home rations are another element of some school meal programmes. In this scheme, entire families

receive food if their children attend school. The rations are conditional upon school enrolment and

attendance of children. In some countries, in-school meals are combined with take-home rations for

particularly vulnerable students such as girls or orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) to generate

greater impacts on school enrolment, retention rates, cognitive capacity, and nutrition. Food rations function

like conditional cash transfers, their value compensating for the costs of sending the child to school. This is also proven to be a powerful human rights programme for girls, increasing enrollment and attendance even in societies where girls are traditionally denied an education.

·         To the maximum extent possible, food is procured locally in developing countries, which in turn benefits local development efforts and small farmers.

Read more at: http://www.wfp.org/school-meals