Strengthening school feeding programmes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Countries involved

Colombia
Ecuador
El Salvador

National institutions

Ministerio de Educación (Ecuador);
Ministerio de Educación (El Salvador)
Unidad Administrativa Especial de Alimentación Escolar Alimentos para aprender (UApA) (Colombia)

Non-state actors

Universidad Técnica de Manabí (Ecuador)
Universidad de Cuenca (Ecuador)
Universidad de las Américas (Ecuador)
Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
Universidad de El Salvador
Asociaciones de productores locales (El Salvador)
Fundación Educativa Monseñor Cándido Rada
Fondo Ecuatoriano Populorum Progressio
Fundación Alpina (Colombia)
Educar Consumidores (Colombia)

Time frame

2022-2023

Background

Vulnerable children have been among the most affected groups by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools closure, as a result of social isolation measures, not only affects children learning processes but also threatens the food security of millions.

Before COVID-19 pandemic, school feeding programmes benefitted nearly 85 million children in Latin America and the Caribbean and for about 10 million of them, they constitute one of the most reliable daily sources of food. In countries like Colombia, Ecuador and El Salvador, where food for school feeding programmes is locally purchased, the disruptions in the programmes have also negatively affected the income of small farmers.

Objective

Strengthening technical capacities and coordination mechanisms of the school feeding programmes through the methodology of Sustainable Schools

This intervention will focus on supporting Colombia, Ecuador and El Salvador in strengthening and scaling up their school feeding programmes through the Sustainable Schools methodology in order to safeguard the food and nutritional security of school-age children and provide sustainability to the local economy, while promoting the transformation of food systems and preventing food loss and waste. The project has the final goal of ending all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of school children, adolescents and youth, through a sustainable food systems approach.

Activities

To reach its objective, the project will work on:

Strengthening technical capacities and coordination mechanisms of the school feeding programmes through the methodology of Sustainable Schools to promote healthy eating habits and strengthening public purchases from Family Farming (FA) and reduction of food losses and waste, including through development of guidelines and strategies and the capacity development of institutions involved.
Providing technical assistance in the design and implementation of regulatory frameworks aimed to strengthening school feeding programs, including through exchanges among the three countries.