Bolivia

The National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), a Brazilian government agency connected to the Ministry of Education, recently sent a team of specialists to work with the Government of Bolivia on issues of school feeding. This exchange was facilitated by ongoing bilateral cooperation agreements between the two countries. In the past, Bolivian officials traveled to Brazil to research the National Council for Food and Nutritional Security, the National School Feeding Program, school gardens project, and Zero Hunger public policies.

Currently, school feeding in Bolivia is provided by a variety of actors, including local and international non-governmental organizations, the World Food Program (WFP), as well as federal, state and municipal governments. Bolivia’s program is particularly notable for its “juntas escolares”: groups formed by parents that prepare meals and encourage community participation.

The Bolivian government, in an initiative spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, is in the process of developing a National Fund for Complementary School Feeding (FONACE – Fondo Nacional para la Alimentacíon Complementária Escolar). An essential component of the creation of FONACE is the approval of school feeding
legislation.

During a two-week period in December of 2009, the FNDE team worked in collaboration with government officials to strengthen the legal foundations of the national school feeding program, as well as for the creation of FONACE. The proposed legislation establishes the right to food, mandates food and nutrition education in school curriculums, and focuses on a reduction of micronutrient deficiencies. The working group included members of the National Council for Food and Nutrition (CONAN – Consejo Nacional de Alimentacíon y Nutricíon), a body composed of representatives of various government ministries.

The FNDE team also traveled to Sucre to conduct a field visit of rural schools, as well as to meet with representatives from the World Food Program (WFP). Two training seminars were conducted in Sucre and in La Paz, in order to exchange experiences and to share best practices. Session participants included municipal officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and international aid agencies. FNDE presented the Brazilian national program model, school gardens project, and new requirements for direct purchase from smallholder farmers. At the culmination of week’s activities, Leland Hunger Fellows Amy Margolies (FNDE/Brazil) and Maielle Helman (WFP/Bolivia) facilitated a strategic planning session with the Brazilian and
Bolivian delegations.

Under the existing partnership, FNDE and the Bolivian government will continue to collaborate on the improvement of school feeding programs in Bolivia. In the meantime, Winston Canqui Ararmayo, a Ministry of Education official in charge of the school feeding initiative, is leading the effort to garner local political support. Canqui foresees passage of the school feeding legislation by the spring of 2010. The Ministry of Education also hopes to officially begin the school gardens project and incorporate it into curriculums this year.

Amy Margolies is a Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellow currently working with the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE) in Brasilia, Brazil.