The Gambia has a school meal programme that targets pre-primary and primary school children (2-13 years) in public schools within the most vulnerable regions and districts of the country. All schools in the targeted geographic areas are eligible for school meals (this includes secondary-level students where a school covers grades 1-9). In addition to school meals, some children bring food from home to school or purchase snacks and meals from food vendors.

The programme is managed by the School Feeding Unit within the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and supported by the World Food Programme. In 2017, as part of a gradual transition process, the World Food Programme handed over the management of two out of six regions to the government, which in turn created a budget line for the programme. The handover plan for the other four regions has been rescheduled to 2030.  

The school meals programme provides daily mid-morning hot meals, five days a week. The meals should cover at least 40 percent of the recommended energy and micronutrient daily intake of children. There are currently two school meal modalities in the Gambia, the choice of which is dependent on the total number of students enrolled in each school. Both modalities are operated by the Government and the World Food Programme in the respective regions that they manage, and both are required to follow the recommended weekly menu and daily rations (see tables 1 and 2). 

The Home-Grown School Feeding programme, which is managed by the School Agriculture and Food Management Unit within the Ministry of Education, links local smallholder farmers to school food procurement and school gardens and is operational in both government-managed regions and a number of schools in World Food Programme intervention areas. Either modality can be linked with the Home-Grown School Feeding initiative. 

Every school has a school food management committee, comprising parents, school staff and children, who are responsible for the planning, purchase and acceptability of school meals, along with school principals.  

The School Feeding Unit has developed a set of training manuals (HGSMP Caterer Training Manual, Cash Transfer Training Manual) that include guidance on a recommended five-day menu, daily rations per child and the nutritional value of items in the food basket (more details below) that schools should follow in preparing their meals. The manuals are used for training members of the food management committees, caterers and other stakeholders, and include lessons on nutrition, hygiene and food safety.  

Table 1: Recommended weekly menu (note: the menu and rations are used as a guide, and may be adapted in different regions as per the availability of commodities and student preferences) 

Table 2: Daily rations per child (based on the menu above) 

*To be provided by the community/school garden 

School feeding officers are responsible for inspecting schools to assess the nutritional quality of the meals, with support from the School Feeding Unit, school authorities and the food management committees. 

A school food policy is under review by the Ministry of Education, subject to funds and other logistics, that will help inform the development of official nutrition guidelines and standards for the school meal programme.  

Food and nutrition education is mainly integrated within the Gambia’s national curriculum through the subjects of Home Economics, Health Sciences, and Agricultural Sciences at the secondary level. At the primary level, food, health, and nutrition-related topics are integrated within subjects such as Science, Physical Education, and Integrated studies.  

Topics related to food, health, and nutrition are also integrated into pre-primary education. These issues are integrated into early childhood education as indicated in the Gambia Early Childhood Care and Development curriculum levels 1,2, and 3.  Partnering with parents to raise happy children is also a programme in which these issues are dealt with. These two programmes are geared towards the holistic development of the child.  

Gambia’s Education Sector Policy (2016-2030) highlights the importance of providing nutrition education to schoolchildren and serves as a guide in integrating nutrition content into various programs. 

The Curriculum Framework for Basic and Secondary Education in the Gambia has also made provision for the integration of nutrition issues at all levels of basic and secondary education. The Curriculum Directorate also promotes nutrition education in schools as part of its engagement in coordinating the Child Social and Financial Education programme commonly called the AFLATOUN. This programme promotes nutrition education in schools through activities such as gardening and poultry farming as well as teaching the core elements that provide skills.  

The main characteristics of school food and nutrition education are summarized below: 

Teachers are the main educators for food and nutrition across the different subjects and grades. Examples of learning activities for pre-primary children include naming food items, identifying Gambian foods, and discussing how to prepare a meal. It also includes health and sanitation.  

From grades 1 to 4, as part of the subject Integrated Studies, schoolchildren engage with real food items, discuss the nutritional value of common foods, and learn about cooking methods and how to eat a balanced diet.    

From grades 7 to 9, Home Economics is an elective subject that includes most of the nutrition and health contents, for example, topics on food safety, budgeting, consumer education, food groups, etc.  

From grade 9 onwards, the issues of nutrition are taught in Home Economics as a separate subject and include examples of activities such as planning and preparing meals for household members with different nutritional needs and using local ingredients. Parents are involved in these activities as the main providers of the ingredients; if students prepare the dishes at school, the learning is also shared with their families when meals are taken home.  

Agricultural Science has a strong practical component as students learn how to manage school and home gardens and to grow vegetables and fruits.  

Overall, the community is generally committed to the nutrition education of children and gets involved in managing the school gardens. Members of mothers’ clubs are key in this, as they are the main group responsible for the gardens when teachers are on holiday. Mothers’ club members are also encouraged to participate in trainings organized by the Ministry of Education and in home-based food education activities.