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Sample Program
Introduction
JKL successfully managed Food for
Progress, Section 416(b) and Title II programs in 12 countries in Latin
America, Central Asia and Africa after 1995.
Programs included monetizations, barter and direct feeding programs. JKL has established staff in Hopestan where
a Food for Progress program is aimed at developing agricultural marketing
systems in rural areas. JKL, in
conjunction with the Ministry of Education (MOE), completed an extensive survey
of the educational sector to determine areas of low enrollment, poverty, and
high incidents of illness due to malnutrition.
During this survey, JKL conducted over the last 6 months, the capacity
and commitment of the government was highlighted and a broadened understanding
of the current conditions was recognized.
It is within the worst areas identified through this survey that JKL
will concentrate its efforts under this school feeding program.
Hopestan, with a population of 18
million, a population growth rate of 2.5 percent and an average annual income
of about $500, is in need of food as well as employment-generating
assistance. The Government of Hopestan
(GOH) has placed a high priority on improving educational opportunities and
setting academic goals for the citizenry, but tight budgets constrain the
ability to implement. The growing
disparity in income and employment opportunities between the urban and rural
areas also manifests itself in the form of lower quality education in the rural
areas. Teacher’s salaries are below the
living wage, and recruitment and retention of teachers is a constant problem.
The GOH through a collaborative study
effort has already shown its commitment to improving the Education For All
(EFA) efforts within their country. The
MOE is committed to improving educational curriculum and broadening its
training outreach efforts into the areas where this food for education (FFE)
program is targeted. This will be the
first education training for many of the teachers who teach in the Western
region of Hopestan. The GOH is also
interested in receiving technical assistance in the development of a private
sector school snack program, in line with the country’s current framework for
meeting their millennium development goals as prescribed under the EFA
commitment within the Dakar Agreement.
Therefore, over the three-year span of the program, increased support
from the Government has been committed and other donors are expected.
In accordance
with the country’s EFA framework, the government will eventually oversee a
private sector school snack program.
Full implementation may require another 5-7 years but concrete steps
continue to be undertaken. The budget
of the MOE increased by 0.5 percent this year, and the GOH has committed
another 1 percent increase per year for the next 3 years. This commitment and a grant from the World
Bank is intended to increase the teacher training and curriculum component to
increase the number of schools available throughout the country. All of these
steps are leading to a gradual national program in the future.
At least 6 years would be necessary to show an economic development impact as a result of an educational program. Although impact results are slow, education levels have a direct correlation with economic development levels.
Even so, this program’s design incorporates long-term sustainable benefits in the short-term. Each year that a student attends school will benefit his/her later years. Because of this program each student will have attended more school days, will be healthy and fed, will have parents and a community that facilitate attendance, will have a teacher who respects children and teaches well, in a secure school with a latrine, potable water and a roof. Nutrition and health information will help children participate in school and develop physically. Teachers will learn new techniques that they will incorporate into their classroom repertoires and, therefore, respond to the needs and learning styles of more children.
The MOE received monitoring and survey techniques training during the last 8 months. The MOE will be responsible for the monitoring of this FFE program to continue to enhance its technical capabilities within this area. These monitoring/oversight abilities will be vital to a successful national program in the future. Additionally, several local organizations are being utilized in the implementation phase of this program and will be essential to the sustaining efforts of cultural awareness efforts and continued parental support of the programs. The local non-governmental organization’s (NGO) involved will implement the PTA section of the school feeding program to foster local community leadership and involvement. Community organization and participation in education will leave a mark in the sense of a new understanding of the importance of getting an education and facilitating attendance as a community. School meals can be facilitated when the school and community work together. These will be components of the community knowledge base and vision after several years with JKL FFE program.
In an effort to
increase the economic stability of the local farming sector and decrease its
reliance on child labor, JKL will provide improved agricultural inputs (seeds)
to local farmers upon their commitment to not utilize child labor. Additionally, JKL is requesting funds for
school supplies that will decrease the funds necessary to send children to
school but also improve the learning environment of the classroom. Teachers rarely have enough teaching
supplies in the classroom to keep the children interested in the lesson. Improved classroom and student learning
inputs will increase the attendance and retention rate of the students and the
teachers. This program will also focus on strengthening
the rural schools and expanding community involvement and participation.
Lastly, the funds requested for administration and transportation are
vital to the distribution of the school snack and the take-home ration. The local infrastructure will be enhanced
through this program through the development of a two-way delivery/pick-up
scheme. This transportation scheme will
deliver school meal components and pickup farmer outputs (vegetables, fruits,
grains, etc.) and deliver them to larger markets for sale. This scheme will increase the profit margin
of local rural farmers who have traditionally had to walk far distances to
reach even small markets. This scheme
will further reduce the tendency to use child labor in order to get the foods
to the local markets.
In an effort to increase the local milling and processing capacity of Hopestan, JKL has requested an amount of corn for monetization and soybean oil and flour for processing through barter. Monetization of the corn and the bartering of the flour and soybean oil provide a greater benefit that receiving a direct cash outlay. These activities provide a sustainable support mechanism that will stimulate privatization and increase the knowledge of commercial transactions, an area that has previously been dominated by the State Government of Hopestan. The sale of corn will lead to increased production of animal protein while stimulating the trading system within the country. Flour will be bartered to provide a nutritious biscuit to students daily while at the same time generating employment in small food processing factories. Again, the food will stimulate employment in the rural areas that have a high incidence of unemployment and underemployment. The GOH is encouraging this privatization effort as it continues to decrease its intervention in the commercial market place.
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