Final: The Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are feeding 14,369 students in the Gulu area of Uganda. Since mid-2002, the area of Gulu, Kitguma and Pader has been severely affected by rebel attacks and many Internally Displaced People (IDP) are in camps. The LRA Army rebels have targeted children between the ages of eight to 14 years for abduction; therefore, the schools within Gulu municipality where challenged to accommodate a significant proportion of the displaced primary students.

Due to unavoidable delays relating to the commodity delivery, the food distribution began in March 2003 in 23 targeted schools. Students whose attendance are 80% and above are entitled to a take-home-ration every month which consists of 6 kg of corn soy blend (CSB), 2 kg of rice, 0.55 kg of vegetable oil and 0.25 kg of salt. Monthly food distribution takes place during the first two weeks of each month.

To improve the quality of education, a teacher-training workshop will be conducted in September 2003 to build the capacity of approximately 150 teachers. This is the first of several in-service trainings that will be conducted in collaboration with the Gulu Primary Teacher’s College and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

Other complimentary programs include: working with parents on the establishment of vegetable gardens and other income generating activities that raise funds to improve infrastructure; and working with the district health clinics to establish an immunization program. Additionally, CRS works to organize and train members of the Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) in organizational and leadership skills to enhance their ownership of the project and reinforce their capacity to guide and support primary schools.

Funds from the monetization of US Hard Red Winter wheat were instrumental in the development of the wheat milling industry in Uganda and have had an indirect benefit to farmers in Kapchorwa region who are growing soft wheat, which is blended with hard red winter wheat for bread baking.

Midterm: The ACDI/VOCA program is to improve access to primary education for 20,000 Universal Primary Education students in 20-30 schools in the disadvantaged districts of Gulu and Kitgum. ACDI/VOCA is responsible for the monetization component of the program, and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) will focus on implementation of the program objectives. Under the project, 6,560 tons of commodities are scheduled to be shipped, of which 4,850 tons will be monetized. CRS plans to work toward parent-teacher association capacity building through curriculum-based lesson plans and provide seeds, tools, and technical assistance for the development of school gardens. The program is scheduled to continue through March 2003.

Final: Since June 2002, rebel activity in various parts of the country has increased. It has created its own level of devastation, particularly the ongoing rebel insurgency by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Northern Uganda. From mid-2002 to present, rebel attacks have been prevalent and many people who had returned to their homes following a lull in the hostilities now find themselves in Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps run by organizations such as UNHCR. The most severely affected areas are the districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. The rural areas are practically empty and schools have been closed. The LRA Army rebels have targeted children between the ages of eight to 14 years for abduction; therefore, the schools within Gulu municipality had to accommodate a significant proportion of the displaced primary students.

Midterm: The East African country of Uganda is finally experiencing a degree of political, social, and economic stability after decades of turmoil, which completely devastated the country. Due to its political leadership, Uganda is making gains in many areas, but many problems remain. While much of the country is peaceful, long-term conflicts in neighboring countries have allowed insurgencies in border areas to continue. Poverty is a major concern in Uganda, with 35% of the population in abject poverty. 26% of children under age five are malnourished. Male illiteracy is estimated at 29% and female illiteracy at 48%. Extreme seasonal food shortages occur, and even during the better times, children are fortunate to receive one basic meal each day.

In Uganda, girls are more likely than boys to be tasked with significant household responsibilities. By the end of primary school, there are only two girls remaining in school for every three boys. Early pregnancy is an additional reason for girls to drop out of school. By age 17, 43% of young Ugandan women give birth. Girls are more likely than boys to be pressured to drop out of school by parents to aid in economic activities or to free parents from chores so they can engage in economic activities. This situation often results in low-paying, sporadic employment.

If a child is receiving food at school, the opportunity cost of education for all children will lessen the uneven pressure on girls to drop out. ACDI/VOCA, in conjunction with CRS, plans to address girls’ lower rates of enrollment and attendance through working with parent-teacher associations (PTA’s) and district education offices to provide information to parents.

In the Gulu District and Kitgum, the program targeted areas where it is very common for school children to go the entire day without food and have only one meal in the evening. Based on this data, ACDI/VOCA and CRS submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide a daily meal to primary-school-age children in Uganda’s Gulu District. The proposal commodities were scheduled for shipment in August 2002.

Final: The wheat intended for Uganda was sent to Djibouti and remained there for three weeks until the ocean carrier identified a transit vessel. During this period, the goods became seriously infested to the degree that Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) refused entry to the country. After ACDI VOCA negotiated with the carrier and KPA, it was off-loaded to a transit warehouse where it was quarantined and fumigated over a two-week period.

Because there were delays in the delivery of the hard red wheat commodities for monetization, funds were not available to use for ACDI’s initial start-up and implementation.

As standard procedure for ACDI/VOCA monetization sales, the 4,550 MT of wheat was advertised and sold on a competitive basis to two buyers at $260/MT in mid November 2002. The price reflected market circumstances at the time of sale. It was based on the local price of flour, monitored on a weekly basis in four markets in Kampala and 17 markets up-country, and international price trends of competing grains. To date, a total of 1,052,324,609 Ugandan Shillings (Ushs) ($575,040) has been received from buyers. All income should be received by June 2003. This represents about half of expected income of 2,164,890,000 Ushs ($1,182,998.) for the total sale.

All distribution commodities have now arrived in Uganda and a portion of the consignment has been sent from ACDI/VOCA’s Kampala warehouse to CRS’s warehouse in Gulu (see table below). Prior to dispatch from Kampala, representatives from ACDI/VOCA traveled to Gulu to inspect proposed stores and target schools. The CRS warehouse was found to be secure and in excellent condition with sufficient capacity for program commodities. Furthermore, there is an inventory-dispatch system in place to monitor the goods in an effective manner.

ACDI/VOCA intends to monetize 4,850 tons of hard red winter wheat. ACDI/VOCA will distribute all food commodities from its primary warehouse in Kampala. ACDI/VOCA will transport commodities to in Gulu, where they will be stored before being forwarded under CRS management to schools or collected by PTA groups. ACDI/VOCA will also manage the monetization process and sale.

Final: The ACDI/VOCA and CRS school-feeding program was initially targeted for the rural areas of Gulu and Kitgum Districts. Subsequently, Kitgum was divided into two districts – Kitgum and Pader. Most of the schools in rural areas of Northern Uganda had to close due to the insurgency. The teachers fled and most of the students were displaced to the town centers for safety, thus ADCI/VOCA had to refocus its efforts on regions that were slightly more stable and where the complexities of operating and administering a school feeding program were more viable.

The Lord’s Resistance Army rebels have targeted for abduction children between the ages of eight to 14 years; therefore, the schools within Gulu municipality had to accommodate a significant proportion of the displaced primary students. As a result, necessary adjustments were made on geographical targeting after careful identification in conjunction with the World Food Program (WFP), which is also operating a school feeding initiative in the region, and prioritization of areas that required food for education support.

Midterm: The goal of the ACDI/VOCA program is to improve access to primary education for 20,000 Universal Primary Education students in 20-30 schools in the disadvantaged districts of Gulu and Kitgum. Specifically, ACDI/VOCA will focus on:

Final: Due to unavoidable delays, particularly relating to commodity delivery, the school-feeding program began in March 2003. A total of 801.62 MT of food had been received in Gulu warehouse in the month of March 2003 [281.45 MT of rice, 368.54 MT of CSB, 101.63 MT of vegetable oil, and 50 MT of salt]. Those pupils whose attendance are 80% and above will be entitled to a monthly take home dry ration which consists of 6 kg of corn soy blend (CSB), 2 kg of rice, 0.55 kg of vegetable oil and 0.25 kg of salt. Monthly food distribution takes place during the first two weeks of each month.

To improve the quality of education, a teacher-training workshop will be conducted in September 2003 to build the capacity of approximately 150 teachers. This is the first of several in-service trainings that will be conducted in collaboration with the Gulu Primary Teacher’s College and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) These training programs will build on the existing curriculum developed by NRC and will involve pedagogical experts from the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES). These efforts will enhance the knowledge, capacity and discipline of the teachers, improve the quality of education, and strengthen the achievements of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) policy.

Complimentary programs include working with parents to establish vegetable gardens and other income generating activities that raise funds to improve school infrastructure, and working with district health clinic workers to establish an immunization program. CRS also works to organize and train members of the Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) in organizational and leadership skills to enhance parent’s ownership of the project and reinforce their capacity to guide and support primary schools.

Midterm: ACDI/VOCA, in cooperation with CRS, will implement a 1-year food-assisted education program that includes PTA development, take-home food rations to primary students, teaching support to educators and administrators, and the promotion of school gardens. ACDI/VOCA is responsible for the monetization component of the program, and CRS will implement the program objectives.

The overall strategy is to bolster the ability of rural families to send their children to school, help school districts provide quality education, and assist communities in becoming more involved in the school environment. All activities will be carried out in partnership with the district education system and communities, and in consultation with international and national education organizations in Gulu and Kitgum. An emphasis will be placed on district- and community-level engagement in the program to promote the eventual graduation of program schools from external assistance to sustainable self-reliance.

CRS will monitor the impact of the take-home ration activity on educational quality. Also, along with government officials, CRS will address potential negative effects in terms of increases in the pupil-to-teacher ratio.

CRS-Uganda has selected two disadvantaged districts in northern Uganda to target through this program. This region of Uganda has experienced uncertainty for the last 15 years, with political unrest, drought, and societal instability combining to displace populations and jeopardize livelihoods. As a result of the Universal Primary Education policy and recent displacement patterns, primary schools in Gulu and Kitgum have an average enrollment of 768 students, according to the Ministry of Education. Both districts exhibit the following indicators of poor educational quality relative to national averages:

A total of 20-30 public and private schools will be selected to participate in this program. Schools within the selected districts will be evaluated and chosen based on the following criteria:

One CRS project officer and two assistant project officers will manage the overall distribution and secondary activities under the supervision of CRS’ senior staff, and will ensure program quality in commodity management, pedagogical support, community capacity-building, and inter-agency collaboration. Five animator/end-use checkers will be responsible for training and supporting the PTA and school feeding management committees, following up with teaching and administrative staff training through this program, and monitoring the use of food commodities.

PTA’s and the school food committees will manage school community-level activities. CRS-Uganda will apply lessons from CRS’ global experience implementing food-assisted education and community capacity-building programs to ensure proper management and community ownership of the take-home ration activity. To ensure accountability, PTA members will fill at least two-thirds of food committee positions. Clear responsibilities among the committee members, as well as lines of communication between the committee and CRS, will be developed in advance of the distribution component. Committee members and school authorities will be trained together in the principles of commodity management and in CRS’ reporting requirements, so that an internal monitoring system is established. Throughout the school year, the animators/end-use checkers will carry out refresher training sessions in these subjects and develop new themes to strengthen the management and implementation skills of the PTA and food committees.

CRS will work with both governmental and NGO’s in the implementation of this program. In particular, the agency group will work with government and private primary schools, community-based organizations, district education offices, the national Ministry of Education and Sports, and education-focused international NGO’s operating in the program area. Given similar strategies for educational support and the collaborative agreements in other sectors, CRS-Uganda will coordinate closely with the World Food Program throughout this program to identify common goals, implementation methods, and impacts. Collaboration between all of the sectors will ensure that the school feeding program activities and training curriculum correspond to national goals and standards, meet the needs of communities and households, and support other intervention in the education sector.

The overall strategy of this program is to strengthen community and district government capacities to support primary education through the combined provision of teacher-administrator training, PTA development, local food/income sources for school, and food-assisted support to vulnerable households. The program will also buttress the Ministry of Education’s efforts to provide pre-service training to its untrained teachers in rural areas. It is expected that as these capacities grow, the need for external food and material support will diminish, and the communities and local education system will be better able to sustain the success of UPE at their own level.

Final: The current situation in Northern Uganda has become an emergency situation with chronic food insecurity problems affecting more than 75% of the total population. The security situation remains unpredictable with the majority of households having insufficient assets and resources (livestock, good health and nutrition, access to credit) to meet ongoing basic needs. Therefore, sustainability of the program in terms of food commodity inputs, will continue to depend on external support until peace prevails and the security situation allows Internally Displaced People (IDPs) to return to their villages and have unrestricted access to their farms.

CRS’s strategy is to sustain the school-feeding program by working with NGOs that provide health and nutrition services and integrate into the program a strong agriculture component that will build the capacity of the school administration and parents to generate income and at the same time build skills in agriculture and nutrition. Working with PTAs on school gardens and other income generating activities and with teachers and administrators on curriculum development enhances the skills of the community to prepare for their future.

Midterm: Sustainability is a key component of the school feeding program. ACDI/VOCA intends to work with local communities to develop small gardens that will serve as sources of food if the school feeding program does not continue to be funded through USDA. Additionally, community leaders have been encouraged to ask families to allow school children to bring a vegetable/fruit item to school as often as possible, thus enhancing the diet and strengthening the community involvement in the education of their children. The pilot aims to reinvigorate community contributions and involvement in the schools, and particularly in the provision of food in the schools. The project is supplying commodities and technical assistance, infrastructure, labor, and materials. The communities themselves provide the actual feeding. This promotes a sense of ownership and long-term sustainability.

Final: With the late start in the program due to the war, USDA was not able to monitor, however CRS monitored their program and collected evaluation data.

Midterm: Both CRS-Uganda and USDA will monitor and evaluate the program. CRS-Uganda’s monitoring and evaluation team will conduct a baseline survey to obtain pre-intervention and control data on the program’s performance indicators for all program schools. Other collaborating organizations, like the Ministry of Education and program school authorities, will be invited to participate in the survey and add questions that are relevant to their own related programs. USDA efforts include hiring a local monitor who will conduct a baseline survey in the target area and conduct focus groups on attendance, enrollment, and performance.

Food committees will submit regular commodity status reports, distribution records, and stock inventories to the PTA and CRS-Uganda. PTA’s will also provide regular reports on their meetings and activities. Finally, progress reports on the training workshops and school gardens are to be provided by the appropriate district and/or community-level implementers.

At the CRS-Uganda level, animators/end-use checkers will visit each school twice per quarter to review and strengthen on-site commodity management, verify attendance levels, and meet with PTA’s and food committee members to review the status of activities and discuss any problems that might arise. CRS project officers and the program manager will visit each school at least once per academic year to evaluate the program’s progress toward its broader objectives. The district education officers in each targeted area will be invited on these visits to provide effective decentralized supervision and management.

In collaboration with CRS-Uganda, ACDI/VOC will submit semi-annual reports, which will include data on performance indicators, to USDA. ACDI/VOCA-Uganda will verify with spot checks that all recipients are using proceeds and commodities consistent with the plan of operation. The following indicators will be used to measure achievements of the program.

Final: Of the 35 schools in Gulu municipality, the survey targeted 23 schools that are not served by WFP. The survey established enrollment figures from school records at 14,369 pupils from 13 schools. Due to displacement there is a general increase in enrollment for all the classes from P-1 to P-7 when compared to the enrollment figures of classes last year. In the past, there has been a tendency for enrollment to decrease when classes were promoted upwards because of dropouts and repeats however the participating schools are experiencing an increase in enrollment and this could be due to displacement caused by the insecurity.

Final: CRS is compiling the attendance records for the beginning of the program from the first 13 schools selected for the school-feeding program in Gulu municipality. Baseline information showed that the registers were not consistent and could not establish any pattern on attendance. Generally, poor attendance of students is reported particularly during the lean period [hunger gap, May- July] and peak cultivation period because children drop out to help their families. Weekly monitoring results on attendance for the month of March 2003 are indicating an overall increase on the number of students.

Special emphasis on girls: Schools with higher number of internally displaced pupils and females were prioritized to participate in school feeding. Thus, girls represent more than 50% of the 14,369 students enrolled for the first term of the year 2003 in the 13 schools.

Unanticipated Outcomes: The school-feeding program was initially designed for the primary schools in the rural areas but due to changes in the security situation, geographic adjustments had to be made to respond to the needs on the ground. Many students from the rural areas are now accommodated in schools within the municipality.

Funds from the monetization of US Hard Red Winter wheat were instrumental in the development of the wheat milling industry in Uganda and have had an indirect benefit to farmers in Kapchorwa region who are growing soft wheat, which is blended with hard red winter wheat for bread baking.

Other Projects Achievements: About 120 PTAs from the 13 primary schools have been trained on food commodity management and distribution. A three-day workshop addressed USDA GFE reporting requirements, general US Government regulations and other relevant guidelines on handling commodities.

As a result of the school-feeding program many schools learned the importance of keeping accurate records to record school enrollment and attendance.