With support from GPE, more than 220,000 children received meals to ensure that they are well nourished and ready to learn.
“The school meal not only fills stomachs, but boosts enrollment, attendance and academic performance. For just a small sum of money per child per day, this program changes lives—and could ultimately impact the future of our country in a profound way.”
When children come to school with an empty stomach, they struggle to concentrate, compromising their ability to learn.
School feeding, when reinforced by other interventions, has a direct impact on learning and can positively impact enrollment, attendance and dropout rates.
“…I sometimes go to school with an empty stomach, so I feel tired and sleepy. But now, since the feeding program started in our school, the ‘kinche’ (cracked wheat/oats) with lentils makes my belly full and gives me energy; I don’t feel hungry anymore. I become attentive. I pay more attention to what the teachers explain.”
Students eating at Yirba Yanase Primary and Secondary School in Hawassa, Ethiopia.
The GPE-supported program, which ran from 2020–22, aimed to provide children with access to quality, safe and inclusive pre-primary and primary education in five regions of the country—Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Sidama and Somali.
The school feeding component was the core intervention of this program, which also focused on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection, psychological support and system strengthening.
The program was funded by a US$20 million GPE grant and was implemented by Save the Children in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Regional Education Bureaus.
The GPE program reached 223,301 children with meals and other interventions in 648 schools. To facilitate this, 344 kitchens were constructed in schools and equipped with up to three new energy saving stoves for large-scale cooking.
The stoves are both environmentally friendly and economical as they can potentially save up to 70% of fuel compared with the three-stone cooking fire.
Additionally, 163 dining halls were constructed in schools and basic cooking utensils including large pots, pans, whisks, cutting boards, knives and water containers along with feeding utensils for each child were distributed.
“The students have had a good appetite for education since we started school feeding. For example, students who attend school during the afternoon shift, eat and then stay at the library in the morning. Some students have asked for tutorial classes. They don’t want to go back home.”
The community was actively involved in the school feeding program, which promoted a sense of ownership. Community volunteers contributed labor and construction materials for the school kitchens, cleaned the kitchen utensils and served food as needed.
Parents have been mobilized to support school agriculture by ploughing and weeding school backyards when schools are closed.
Food being cooked in the kitchen at Yirba Yanase Primary and Secondary School in Hawassa, Ethiopia.
“When school feeding started, students who had dropped out came back. Some other students used to come late after working as daily laborers to get food, but they have started coming straight to school because they get food here.”
Anecdotal evidence shows that school meals combined with the construction of separate toilets and menstrual hygiene rooms improved school attendance for girls and decreased dropout rates.
“I am a witness to the miracle a school feeding program can bring about. Before the start of the program in March 2021, there were only 347 students, but now there are more than 700.”
A student lifts their hand in class. Yirba Yanase Primary and Secondary School is located in Hawassa, Ethiopia.
During discussions with the government, GPE advocated for the importance of having a school feeding policy, which played a role on the development of a policy and related strategy.
Following the endorsement of the school feeding policy and strategy by the government of Ethiopia, regional governments have allocated budget to implement school feeding in their respective regions to benefit 1.3 million children.
Considering the huge need across the country, this is only a small contribution but is nonetheless a step in the right direction.
However, the government does not have the means to sustain the school feeding programs so an additional GPE grant of US$10 million was allocated to continue offering school feeding while contributing to ease the challenges of food insecurity on families posed by the prolonged drought and the more recent flooding.
The new funding supports 578 schools in six regions: Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Sidama and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region and includes the following interventions:
GPE continues to fund school feeding programs to improve children’s well-being and to ensure that they learn better.
“I come to school every day and stay here for the whole day. Gone are the days when I sat in the class feeling hungry. My school days are joyful now. The food helped me to be attentive. I had always dreamed of becoming a doctor and I am working hard to achieve my goal.”
Great work accomplished by committed team as it will make our SCI team in other projects to emulate and learn from it.
Thanks alot.
School feeding program in Ethiopia, dramatically reduce their mother from stress and help the disadvantages women's, Girls and children's to access school
Dear Global Partnership for Education (GPE),
Your generosity and commitment to improving the lives of children in our country is greatly appreciated. We look forward to continuing your support in the future.
Ethiopian Citizen from South Sudan.
Je salut l'initiative de cette rencontre et apprécie les résolutions prises. Oui!il le faut en ce 21 siècle afin que l'éducation soit reorganisée et orienter vers l'ultime but d'assurer un développement durable dans le monde et non pour une partie du monde comme nous le constatons actuellement ce qui est d'ailleurs signaler par le représentant du Niger. Nous avons vraiment besoin en Afrique et principalement dans mon pays le Bénin.
Alors pour que cela soit ainsi, il faut des moyens, un investissement que tous les acteurs poliques, techniques et sociaux doivent impérativement accompagner.
Merci bien!
Oui! Il est dépasse de venir à l'école et d'y rester en classe le ventre creux. C'est inadmissible et je remercie le GPE.
Ce programme existe dans mon pays le Bénin et uniquement pour certaines écoles publiques surtout dans nos campagnes, c'est dire dans les écoles qui se trouvent dans les villages des zones déserités. J'apprécie bien cette initiative du gouvernement de mon pays.
Mais je notre une discrimination à l'endroit des écoliers qui se trouvent dans ces zones. Il s'agit des écoliers des écoles privées. C'est que les écoliers qui se trouvent dans ces zones reculées et inscrits dans écoles privées ne bénéficient pas eux de ces avantages qu'ont leurs gostes inscrits dans les écoles publiques.
Je crois bien qu'il s'agit d'une poliques du gouvemenet de mon pays à aider les parents non seulement à envoyer leurs enfants à l'écoles publique mais à les maintenir dans ces lieux.
Je voudrais que le GPE et ces partenaire puis réfléchir dans ce cas précis du Bénin et pouvoir nous aider à travers ce plaidoyer pour un programme spéciale de nourritures (cantine scolaire) pour les écoliers des privées dans les zones désérités au Bénin car ces écoliers du privés sont eux aussi des enfants Béninois et citoyens de demain.