Expanding opportunities for the world's children to receive adequate nutrition for learning and achieving their potential.
As the international arm of SNA, GCNF has access to a vast array of professionally qualified specialists who offer extensive, practical experience in a wide range of program areas, such as policy development and implementation that includes:
“The ‘Advancement of Sustainable School Feeding Programs Linked to Agriculture’ grant was awarded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to GCNF March 30, 2009 through December 30, 2009. The grant supported three projects: (1) Country Policy and Funding Mechanism Study, (2) Needs Assessment for Developing Sustainable School Feeding in Sichuan Province, China, and (3) 2009 Global Child Nutrition Forum in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The overall grant provided technical assistance and research based information to help countries transition to or develop a country-owned and operated school feeding program.”
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this study examines how five middle income countries have established nationally-owned and operated school feeding programs. Proving that there is no one model to guarantee program success and sustainability, this report showcases various policy and funding methods from Jordan, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria and South Africa. The information provided in this report may help other countries to establish or transition to a unique national school feeding program of their own.
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On May 12, 2008, an 8.0 earthquake struck the Sichuan Province in China, resulting in an estimated 90,000 deaths and in the destruction of thousands of schools. School feeding has since surfaced as a strategy vital to the province’s recovery. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this needs assessment determines how a sustainable, nutrition-based school feeding program can be established at six target school sites in Deyang City, Sichuan. Site visits made by GCNF staff in April and July 2009, coupled with information from local area stakeholders and extensive literature review, provides a comprehensive and realistic presentation of school feeding in China.
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The School Feeding Toolkit is a planning instrument that assists countries, through ongoing review and revisions, to meet changing country needs. Its purpose is to help country leaders and stakeholders establish sustainable school feeding programs that respond to local needs, cultures, and traditions. Thus, rather than a prescriptive guide, the Toolkit serves as a flexible instrument to help leaders work together in developing programsthat respond to country needs. The School Feeding Toolkit guides country leaders through the following five planning steps:
There is no more important task than ensuring that children are sufficiently nourished and educated to become self-sufficient, contributing citizens in their countries. The global community shares a responsibility to end childhood hunger by providing all children access to adequate food, nutrition, and educational opportunities.
As nations strive to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), school feeding becomes a time-tested, successful initiative to reduce hunger, increase school attendance for boys and girls alike, and enhance the child’s ability to learn. On a broader scale, school feeding supports the country’s poverty reduction goals and contributes to the social and economic development of the country.
The Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF) developed the School Feeding Toolkit in collaboration with GCNF Forum participants, GCNF volunteers and staff, and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). Its purpose is to help country leaders and stakeholders establish sustainable school feeding programs that respond to local needs, cultures, and traditions. The Toolkit was first used by country leaders from Honduras, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Mali and Kenya when they participated in the 2007 Global Child Nutrition Forum. It was again used by leaders from 10 additional countries who attended the 2008 Global Child Nutrition Forum. In its third edition, the 2009 Toolkit brought updated information from Forum delegates who represented 16 countries and additionally many school feeding specialists who also participated in the revision process. The third edition was introduced at the Global Child Nutrition Forum held in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2009. This year, in Accra, Ghana, the Toolkit presented an additional 18 countries with the technical assistance that is essential to the successful implementation of school feeding programs.
GCNF and WFP acknowledge that there is no single path for establishing sustainable school feeding programs. The School Feeding Toolkit is a planning instrument that assists countries through ongoing review and revisions to meet changing country needs. Thus, rather than a prescriptive guide, the Toolkit serves as a flexible instrument to help leaders work together in developing programs that respond to country needs. Furthermore, the Toolkit encourages stakeholders to design community based programs that connect agricultural production with school feeding, including purchasing food from local smallholder farmers and processors.
