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AFRICAN UNION
UNION AFRICAINE
UNIÃO AFRICANA
Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: 251 11 551 7700 Fax: 251 11 551 7844
Website: www.au.int
1st SPECIALIZED TECHNICAL
COMMITTEE MEETING ON
EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(STC-EST)
27th to 30th October 2015
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
AU/STC/EST/EXP (29) En
BRIEFING NOTE
HOME GROWN SCHOOL FEEDING AS A DRIVER OF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
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1. Background
The target for attaining specific educational goals in the AU Second Decade of Education for Africa, as
well as the global EFA and MDGs was 2015. Stakeholders at the African continental level as well as
the global level have discussed progress made and challenges encountered over the past decade; and
proposed new targets for the post 2015 period. African Ministers and other key stakeholders met in
Kigali in April 2015 to agree on new priorities and targets, which were incorporated into the global
education targets “Education 2030”during the World Education Forum held in Incheon in the
Republic of Korea in May 2015. The African Union Commission has subsequently developed the
Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25), which takes into account the African position
on post 2015 sustainable development; the global ‘Education 2030’ and the global SDGs.
Furthermore, the African continental education strategy also necessarily responds to the African
Agenda 2063 – The Africa we Want. Agenda 2063 is the collectively articulated continental vision and
aspirations for Africa’s development and prosperity. Education, science and technology are central to
the attainment of Agenda 2063.
Unlike the previous global compacts- EFA and MDGs, Education 2030 is part of a broader agenda for
sustainable development, and takes into account all levels and aspects of education. Education is the
fourth goal of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) for 2030 and manifests a holistic vision of
development that integrates education as a fundamental building block for sustainable development.
It is also clear that all the other goals must be supported by education. The global education agenda
must no longer evolve in isolation, but be integrated into the overall development framework.
The new education goals at global and continental levels reflect the need to capitalize on the
transformational capacity of education for individuals, communities and societies. Similarly,
Education 2030 and CESA 16-24 focus more on systems of governance, quality of education, systems
that govern access to education; equity and inclusion of access as major objectives. School Feeding
has been addressed as a major intervention required for enhancing access to education for the poor
in Africa and around the world. The efforts of the World Food Programme in supporting school
feeding and developing strategic and innovation approaches are therefore of particular importance
in achieving post 2015 education goals. African countries are at various levels of using this major tool
for increasing access, and have recognized the need to strengthen efforts, including by learning from
practices elsewhere, such as the Brazillian Hone Grown School Feeding programme. In 2013 for the
first time ever, the report the State of School Feeding Worldwide,1 was the first report of its kind to
provide an overview of school feeding globally. The report shows that this program is present in
almost all countries across the globe with nearly 368 million school children worldwide who receive
school meals daily, for a total investment of about $ 75 billion USD/year. The report also shows that
coverage is lowest where the needs are the greatest. For example, in sub-Saharan African countries –
low and middle-income countries - programs are usually available only in certain geographical areas
chosen for vulnerability factors including; crises, conflicts, food insecurity, low enrollment rates or a
combination of factors. Quite often, where the needs are greatest in terms of hunger, poverty and
weak social indicators, coverage continues to be the lowest. So the key question is how countries can
improve the effectiveness of the programs they implement.
1
State of School Feeding Worldwide, 2013, WFP, WB, PCD
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In Africa, malnutrition rampant across the continent particularly affects school-age children and is
part of a broader set of extra-scholastic factors which are an obstacle to education. Generally, these
factors go beyond the scope of education policy and influence the level of pupil learning, aptitude.
This is why education policies are increasingly interested in this issue.
The benefits of school feeding are widely known. The benefits range from; improving access to
education and reducing the high school dropout rates, school feeding also improves learning ability,
decreases the gender gap and reduces food and nutrition insecurity. Additionally, the 20132 report
clearly demonstrated that school feeding is a safety net that acts on access to food, stimulates local
markets, allows households to invest in productive activities and to participate the development of
human capital – especially when assistance is provided in the form of financial transfers.
Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF), the subject of this document, is an innovative programme that
some countries are adopting to provide solutions to immediate hunger in schools while providing
possibilities of support to rural families through stimulating local production. The link between local
agricultural production and the school feeding market has an effect on the sustainability of programs
as it encourages the local economy directly through the purchase from local producers or indirectly
through increased income that is reinvested in the local economy.
The program brings benefits not only the different types along the value chain (e.g.: small farmers,
processors and schools), but can also have gender and multigenerational impacts. Beneficiaries range
from smallholder farmers to processors and schools’ cooks. Opportunities to target specific groups
such as women smallholder farmers to school caterers are very high. In addition, by integrating
nutrition education at the community level, HGSF can not only provide immediate benefits in terms
of income to households through increased demand for food commodities, it can also have lasting
effects in terms of support to nutrition at household level.
Another advantage of the HGSF approach are the opportunities and potential profits the predictable
school feeding market offers to smallholder farmers. The structured demand created by school
feeding in the context of a national program means that the provision of meals to schools is
conducted through public procurement. This provides a platform through which smallholder farmers
can benefit from the necessary supply side support and capacity building to improve their
productivity through multifaceted investment such as increased access to credit, technology,
production and processing equipment and storage/post-harvest handling, amongst other things. This
inclusive value chain approach to agricultural growth can potentially reduce rural poverty, mitigate
the impact of volatile in global food prices and boost the national economy.
This model is implemented in some countries like India, which has set up various school feeding
supply chains; cereals are funded at the central government level, while fruits and vegetables are
sourced locally. The Brazilian national school feeding program allocates 30 percent of its food
procurement resources for to purchase from local smallholder farmers.
Beyond the direct impact on the nutrition of schoolchildren and increasing school attendance, the
link between school feeding and smallholder farmer local production established by HGSF - as in the
case of other structured demands - can contribute to social and economic development, especially
when we consider the distribution of the population on the African continent. In many countries the
2
State of School Feeding Worldwide, 2013, WFP, WB, PCD
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majority of the population still live in rural areas with subsistence agriculture as the main livelihood
activity. Many of these farmers do not have adequate access to markets for their products and,
therefore, lack the means to invest in improved and increased production. The lack of viable market
opportunities limits the options rural agricultural families have to prevent rural flight, especially
amongst young people. This flight to urban areas is taking a toll on the farmer base, which in many
countries is an aging population. Supporting measures to connect smallholder farmers to markets
through structured demand may contribute to reverse this trend.
Home Grown School Feeding can have different configurations. Different approaches may coexist
within a country. For example in Ghana WFP complements the national program by connecting
smallholder farmers to the school caterers. The key is not to determine which model is the "best",
but to stress that different innovations can be combined to cover a particular national context. HGSF
has a number of benefits particularly for low-income countries that are engaged in a transition
process from a donor based program to the implementation of a program financed by the national
budget.
For several years WFP has supported the implementation of national school feeding programs in
various African countries. Through the Centre for Excellence Against Hunger, WFP facilitates SouthSouth and Triangular Cooperation for capacity building, knowledge and experience sharing aimed at
the creation and ownership of HGSF programs by African governments.
In São Tomé and Príncipe, the government has clearly demonstrated its political choices and adopted
a school feeding law in 2012. In Cape Verde, all primary school children receive a hot meal daily
made with fresh produce purchased in local markets. Benin, Guinea-Conakry, Zambia, and several
other countries have adopted school feeding policies and created a school feeding department for
the implementation of their programs. Senegal, in turn, has produced a decree that establishes the
procurement of local products for school feeding. Niger has launched the 3N strategy (Nigeriens
Nourish Nigeriens) and made school feeding interventions the entry point for interventions in the
first three municipalities of the Zinder region; these interventions have led to improvements in the
nutritional status of the populations.
Since January 2015, there has been a growing interest in HGSF as a means to promote local
development by the African Union. Ii is in this context that last August the Commissioner for Human
Resources, Science and Technology, HE Dr Martial De-Paul Ikounga led a delegation of African
ministers in Brazil to learn more and by inspired the Brazilian school feeding model.
In the context of sub-Saharan Africa, the concept of HGSF is particularly interesting for countries
seeking to take ownership of a school feeding program at national level given its many benefits. The
voice of the African Union has significant bearing on the continent and can help advance the agenda
of investing in social safety net programs as a means to investing in the sustainable development
goals of countries context. Advocacy from the African Union level about these programmes can
certainly help raise the awareness of the African Heads of State and cause them to prioritise to
certain national and international agenda topics on that can directly influence the lives of their
citizens, in terms of social and economic development.
2. Objectives
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This briefing note aims to:
 enhance understanding of the Home Grown School Feeding approach,
 foster greater ownership of HGSF programs by countries on the continent,
 guide the work of the African Union Commission and the AU Member States on the
adoption and implementation of HGSF as a relevant strategy under the global "Zero Hunger"
agenda.
In addition to the ongoing efforts, the expected results of such advocacy will help to mobilize
technical expertise and financial resources. Furthermore, it will allow for better definition of policy
frameworks, including strengthening institutional frameworks with funding allocations to implement
programmes linking quality inclusive education and local development at the highest level that better
respond to the development needs.
3. Expected results
Three primary expected results:

Ensure that the African Union and the Member States take ownership of the homegrown school feeding programs in Africa;

Invite member states that have national school feeding programs to continue and sustain
their efforts, and those who have no experience in this field to develop a strong political
will in this regard;

Strengthen South-South and triangular cooperation with WFP's Centre of Excellence
against hunger in Brazil.
4. Alignment with other strategies
This briefing note is based on analyzes of school feeding, smallholder/subsistence or family farming
and structured demand conducted jointly by the World Bank, WFP and the Partnership for Child
Development (PCD)3. It also draws on the first results of the initiative, "The Cost of Hunger in Africa4"
which focuses on the risk factors related to undernourishment of individuals in the field of health,
education and productivity. Also taken into account were studies on alternative market access for
family agriculture in food security initiatives5 and the Brazilian experience of structured demand
related to school feeding6.
Further note that in 2003, African governments endorsed the HGSF programme of the
Comprehensive Africa Development Programme (CAADP). In the same year, NEPAD identified HGSF
3
Rethinking School Feeding, Bundy et al. 2009
COHA: Cost Of Hunger in Africa is a project of the AU Commission, NEPAD and WFP. The study focuses on
several countries and aims to estimate the socioeconomic impact of malnutrition in Africa.
5
The Working Paper #64 « Market Alternatives for Smallholder Farmers in Food Security Initiatives » by IPC-IG
analyzes the Brazilian experience of institutional purchases in the Food Acquisition Program of Brazil.
6
WFP Centre the Excellence against Hunger, IPC-IG (UNDP), « Structured Demand and The Family Farming in
Brazil », October 2013.
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as having an immediate impact on food insecurity in Africa, with the potential to contribute to longterm development goals. The African Union Special Food Summit, in December 2006, called for an
expansion of HGSF to reach at least 20 percent of member states by 2008.
Therefore, this note fits into the framework of Agenda 2063 that encourages the mobilization of an
education revolution and the elimination of hunger and food insecurity. It is guided by the principles
of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa, including the principles of “holistic, inclusive and
equitable education with good conditions for lifelong learning is sine qua non for sustainable
development” and “resource mobilization with emphasis on domestic resources”7. In addition, the
document is aligned with the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and
Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods 8 in which members of the African
Union declared their goals to implement measures to increase agricultural productivity within social
protection initiatives, through among other means encouraging and facilitating the consumption of
local products.
The abovementioned strategies fit into the global development agendas as the Millennium
Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals, which call to address education from the
perspective of inclusive development so that no one is left behind.
5. History of advocacy for Home-Grown School Feeding
In June 2014, on the sidelines of the WFP Executive Board meeting in Rome, a joint meeting was
convened by representatives of the West and Central Africa Regions to request WFP support to boost
school feeding on the international agenda and to adopt a common implementation strategy for
quality school feeding programs under the national government leadership. In October 2014 the
Ministers of Education in attendance at the Global Child Nutrition Forum (GCNF) in Johannesburg9 ,
under the leadership of Madam Minister of Primary Education of Niger, furthered the reflection
initiated in Rome. These actions resulted in a strong commitment and the adoption of a joint
declaration. "The Declaration of Johannesburg for the School Feeding" stressed the need to advocate
for a gradual increase in budgetary allocations for school feeding. The Johannesburg Declaration is
attached to this document.
This momentum continued in Kigali with the organization of an advocacy meeting during the
COMEDAF (Conference of Ministers of Education of the African Union) proceeding on February 8,
2015, again in the sidelines of the Regional Conference on Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. During
these meetings, again at the compulsion of the Nigerien Minister of Primary Education, ministers
decided in favor of school feeding programs as an engine of local development and vector of a
quality inclusive education in the post-2015 agenda.
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Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-2025
Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and
Improved Livelihood
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Forum was co-organized by the Centre of Excellence.
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In this same vein, in the sidelines of the World Education Forum, held in Incheon in South Korea in
May 2015, a panel was organized to gather a critical mass and to intensify advocacy for the
promotion of a school feeding program model that is connected to local agriculture on the
continental level. These awareness raising campaigns are necessary to ensure that this tool is
considered as common practice to be adopted as part of the agenda of the post-2015 education.
As the advocacy activities conducted so far, the study visit to Brazil organized jointly by the Centre of
Excellence, WFP Niger, the WFP regional bureau in Dakar and the WFP office with the Union African,
provided an opportunity for Ministers to witness firsthand how Brazil has integrated school feeding
into an extensive social protection program. They have also witnessed how school meals have played
a catalytic role in the implementation of various activities, including nutrition sensitive food security
actions, integration of young people, development of sectors around the school and how it has
benefited the whole community. The visit enabled participants to understand the scaling up of an
integrated approach and the decisive role played by the State and its decentralized structures in the
steering and implementation of this program. This was also an opportunity to share information on
the financing of the program and its potential to contribute to the fiscal space as a social protection
mechanism. Finally, the tour participants have realized that indeed school meals, beyond their
primary function of short-term solution to hunger for the school children, is a powerful tool for local
development that could be better explored in the context of the global agenda for Africa at the 2063
target.
This experience complements ongoing cooperation with African countries. Between 2011 and 2015,
24 African countries traveled to Brazil for study visits in the framework of South-South and Triangular
Cooperation. During the visits information about the Brazilian experience and other success stories
were shared, emphasis was placed on social protection policies, smallholder production and local
procurement mechanism. The purpose of such visits was to strengthen the capacity senior
government officials and to enable governments to find adaptable and sustainable to promote
national food security and nutrition and quality education.
Many African countries are already engaged in this process. Since the start of the study visits to
Brazil, 21 African countries have taken action in the development of national programs with the
support of the Center of Excellence (Zimbabwe, Gambia, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, and Togo,
among others). Among them 12 countries including; Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi and Senegal have
established a legal framework for school feeding and other social protection programs. 10 countries
Cameroon inclusive established the formal institutionalization of community participation in the
school feeding program as fundamental.
Through 3N initiative, Niger started the transition to a home-grown school feeding program that
promotes food procurement from local smallholder farmers. Since the start of the transition process,
the government has acknowledged a significant increase in school attendance, especially in rural
areas. In 2014, the program purchased 800 MT of locally produced food.
In Mozambique, the National School Feeding Programme (PRONAE) was validated and pilot projects
in schools were established (currently in 12 schools in 4 provinces). The ingredients for the meals
provided to children are acquired from smallholder farmers and these projects are promoting
healthy eating habits.
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The government's multi-sectorial engagement is very important for the success of programs. In the
interest of involving all concerned sectors in the implementation of HGSF, Ethiopia has created a task
force with different members of government institutions including ministries of education,
agriculture, finance and health.
At the regional level, advocacy which resulted in the "Johannesburg Declaration on the School
Feeding" at the Global Child Nutrition Forum and in 2014 also led to the creation of a francophone
network for school feeding.
The network aims to support the commitment and technical cooperation between the francophone
West African countries for the development of national home-grown school feeding programmes.
Member countries consider that the next step is to expand this network at the continental level.
6. Governance, responsibility and coordination
The Brazilian example has shown the importance of leadership of the State. Indeed, the national
government plays a key role as a guarantor of effective management and financing of the school
feeding program. Given of the multi-sectorial nature of the program, strong leadership and support
at the highest level contributes to the promotion of the ideals of the program. However, while
maintaining effective leadership, coordination and responsibility for allocating resources, the federal
government has granted significant autonomy to states and municipalities, allowing them to adapt
the national curriculum to the needs and preferences at the local level.
7. Recommendations
The Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology is invited to include in its
recommendations to the Assembly of the African Union the endorsement by the African Union of
HGSF as a vehicle to promote education, nutrition and social and economic development. HGSF is
also a tool to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Furthermore, the Assembly may consider establishing a multidisciplinary technical committee of
African experts who, under the supervision of the African Union Commission, would be responsible
for the development of a detailed feasibility study on school feeding in AU Member States. This study
should take into account existing best practice and the following elements:


The consolidation of national school feeding programs guided by principles of
interdisciplinary leadership, strong legal framework, local resource mobilization, community
engagement and ownership, and the provision of minimum services for the support of
development local;
Identifying funding sources at national and continental level for HGSF programs and the
provision of minimum infrastructural services;
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

Identifying priorities for capacity building, in partnership with WFP and its Centre of
Excellence against Hunger, for the development of appropriate programs based on the needs
of governments;
Coordination mechanisms at political and technical level, taking advantage of the existing
structures of the African Union and school feeding networks.
These recommendations could help strengthen ongoing initiatives and consolidate the commitment
of African leaders in favor of HGSF, facilitate coordination of sectoral initiatives at the national level
and the development of technical capabilities in all African countries.
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