• This publication provides an analysis of the state of school feeding in 2020.

    • Basically it describes the impact of COVID-19 on school feeding around the world and presents what can be done to restore this global safety net.

    • At the height of the crisis in April 2020, 199 countries had closed their schools and 370 million children were suddenly deprived of what for many was their main meal of the day. 

    • This loss highlighted the importance of school feeding as a social safety net which protected the well-being of the most vulnerable children and supported their future.

Key findings

    1. School feeding is the largest and most widespread social safety net in the world, benefitting 388 million children globally.

    2. Low-income countries have considerably strengthened their financial and policy efforts in relation to school feeding, leading to increased coverage.

    3. Between 2013 and 2020, the number of children receiving school meals grew by 9 percent globally and 36 percent in low income countries.

    4. The world needs to prioritize safely reopening schools, including restoring access to school meals.

    5. There is growing consensus on the need to support children throughout their development to adulthood. Investment in human capital is essential for individuals to achieve their full potential and contributes to national growth and economic development.

    6. As most national school feeding programmes are supported by domestic funds, better understanding of the underlying cost drivers could help more countries transition to self-reliance. 

    7. School feeding is a cost-effective intervention, which yields high returns on investment in education, health, social protection and local economies.

    8. School feeding programmes play a key role in resilience to conflicts and emergencies. In the long term, they may contribute to minimizing the impacts of climate change through environmentally sensitive food systems. 

    9. School feeding programmes that are connected to the local purchase of food (commonly known as home-grown school feeding programmes) have proven their worth in middle-income countries.

About WFP

    • The report is published by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). 

    • The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. 

    • On any given day, WFP has 5,600 trucks, 30 ships and nearly 100 planes on the move, delivering food and other assistance to those in most need.

    • In 2019, WFP assisted 97 million people – the largest number since 2012 –  in 88 countries. 

    • For its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict, WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020.

    • The World Food Programme has renewed its commitment to work with governments to ensure that all vulnerable children are supported, and has launched a new ten-year School Feeding Strategy to strengthen its global strategic role in school health and nutrition.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants. The views expressed here are personal.)