Final: In 2002, the commodities provided under the USDA initiative supported the expansion of the existing WFP school feeding program. The contribution helped WFP feed an additional 29,000 boys and girls in poor municipalities located in the Northern Atlantic Region. These indigenous communities include Prinzalpolka, Waspan and Puerto Cabezas. These isolated municipalities are located in inaccessible areas that are highly vulnerable to food insecurity. Roads are poor and dangerous and there is little in the way of commercial transport available. Consequently, it has been difficult for humanitarian organizations to establish and maintain a presence in the area.

Midterm: The Government of Nicaragua has made a commitment to free and compulsory education for all children, particularly at the primary level. It plans to eventually implement a national school feeding program and WFP and other non-governmental organizations are working to help facilitate this initiative. WFP’s school feeding program and the support from USDA play an important role in this ongoing effort.

Since the implementation of WFP’s school feeding program, enrollment has increased for boys and girls in primary and pre-primary schools. Community participation in WFP’s program has played a substantial role. Primary schools with feeding programs had an average of three teachers and 103 community members involved at each school.

A 1998 Ministry of Education report states that 26 out of every 100 children in between 7–12 years of age do not receive any education. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 700,000 children between 2-9 years of age live in difficult circumstances that are characterized by insufficient access to food, education, health services, drinking water, and adequate housing.

Primary schools in Nicaragua have a 10% annual dropout rate with grade repetition ranging between 5 and 7%. On average, it takes students 10 years to finish the six primary school grades. Socio-cultural patterns play a role in these figures, with students dropping out for financial reasons or not attending school regularly because they have to take part in household chores, such as caring for younger siblings.

Short-term and chronic hunger constitute two of the main problems facing school-age children today. An estimated two-thirds of pre-school and primary school children in depressed areas start lessons every day without eating an adequate breakfast, and often after walking several kilometers. These nutritional problems reduce student’s learning capacity, weaken children’s dedication to school, and make it difficult for them to participate actively in educational activities.

Final: In November of 2002, WFP received 2,499 MT of maize from USDA. These commodities will be used in the 2002-2003 school year.

Commodities Received in 2002

The majority of commodities arrived during the last quarter of 2001, which allowed for the stock to be used in 2002. Out of the 17,221 MT of commodities received for the school feeding operation during the past two years, 15,382 MT were from USDA contributions while 1,839 MT came from other donor contributions.

As a result of USDA’s contribution, a total of 393,785 Nicaraguan students were fed in 2002. The program served 199,932 boys and 193,853 girls.

Midterm: The USDA donated 15,936 metric tons of commodities in 2001 for the WFP school feeding program in Nicaragua.

Other donors contributed a total of 761 MT of commodities to the school feeding program during 2001.

Final: While WFP had been providing students with fortified drinks and biscuits, the USDA contributions helped students in Nicaragua eat a hot meal. In addition, parents contributed vegetables and spices to increase the nutritional value and diversify the food basket. Hot meals were distributed in both pre-schools (3-6 years of age) and primary schools (7-12 years of age).

Midterm: WFP used the commodities to provide hot lunches to 10,000 pre-school children. In addition, WFP provided 70,000 primary school children with snacks consisting of high-protein biscuits and fortified beverages. The snack helped encourage students to attend school regularly and motivated them to study. USDA Global Food for Education (GFE) commodities allowed WFP to expand its area of service and the number of students served. In addition, WFP and Project Concern International (PCI) coordinated their target areas. This allowed WFP to withdraw from the municipalities in which PCI carried out school feeding activities and reach additional needy students in other areas.

Goals and objectives: The WFP program entitled, "Investment in Human Capital through Education" supports the school feeding program and places an emphasis on rural primary schools in the most food-insecure areas. It also promotes pre-primary education in order to increase student’s learning capacity and nutritional status while preparing them for primary school. Assistance includes the provision of enriched, fortified foods to reduce short-term hunger, increase school enrollment and attendance, reduce dropout rates, and increase learning capacity.

Cooked meals are prepared by volunteer community members for children over 2 years of age in the pre-school centers. Children receive blended corn-soy drinks that are fortified with micronutrients. At the primary level, fortified drinks and biscuits are distributed to students. The meal is provided in the morning to counter short-term hunger and improve concentration. Products are produced locally with the extrusion, milling, and mixing equipment donated by WFP. Approximately 320,098 children from 2-12 years of age receive food rations 160 days a year in pre-school centers and primary schools.

Final: During 2002, WFP partnered with Feed the Children Norway, Médecins du Monde, Action against Hunger, CARE, and the National Pre-School Commission along with UNICEF and other agencies in the UN System. Through collaboration activities, the organizations provided technical assistance, kitchen equipment, learning materials, infrastructure rehabilitation and logistics support to WFP’s school feeding operations.

Collaboration with the Government of Norway made it possible to expand pre-school and primary school feeding activities in the Northern Atlantic Region. The contribution covered the logistical and operational expenditures in the region. As the costs are high in this region, the contribution was vital for program expansion.

Midterm: Community participation is the backbone of the school feeding activity in Nicaragua. Parent committees and school councils bear the responsibility for the management, control, preparation, and distribution of food. To guarantee integrated care in community pre-school centers, WFP, IDB/PAININ and the MECD-APRENDE project coordinated activities. The APRENDE project supplied furniture and teaching materials, undertook infrastructure improvements, paid teachers' salaries, and provided incentives to mobile trainers.

Final: According to the preliminary results of the 2002 baseline survey, school attendance during the first quarter of the year averaged 92%. This demonstrates a 5% increase during 2001. The high retention rates for both pre-schools and primary schools that were established in 2001 were also maintained during the 2002 school year.

Community participation was greatly enhanced in 2002 through the creation of 2,888 new school feeding committees and 1,544 parent committees. Some 96% of those participating in the committees are women. For many of these women, it is the first time they have been involved in decision-making activities within the community. These committees are the result of a joint WFP/ Ministry of Education initiative that encourages parents, teachers and community leaders to participate in food preparation, transportation and storage as well as kitchen and warehouse construction activities.

Another important change that program brought about is the increased student participation in governance activities. Forty-one percent of Nicaragua’s primary students are now taking part in the school feeding program and making decisions about their schools through the creation of student government activities. These activities directly involve students in the education process and are excellent leadership and empowerment building tools.

Midterm: Enrollment increased for both primary and pre-primary school students. Between 1998 and 2001, enrollment for boys increased 10.9% in primary schools and 12.4% in pre-primary centers. Increases for girls were 9.28% for primary and 10.58% for pre-primary school enrollment. Student-to-teacher ratios have increased slightly for primary schools from an average 35 students per teacher in 1998 to 38 students per teacher in 2001. While the increase occurred slowly, it suggests that the increase in the number of students played a role in increasing the number of teachers in these schools. For pre-primary schools, the ratio was relatively stable at 26-27 students per teacher.

Another important impact is the level of community participation. The school feeding program involves community members. On average, primary schools have three teachers and 103 community members involved in some way with the activity. Pre-primary schools had somewhat lower involvement, with an average of three teachers and 44 non-teachers per school.

WFP’s daily snack of rice, beans, oil, peas and fortified cereal now includes carrots, lettuce, cucumbers and radishes harvested from the school’s new garden.

Parents, teachers and students at the Las Pilas Primary School worked together to plant supplemental foods that could be added to WFP-meals and provide educational benefits at the same time.

"We are complementing the food that is given to us by WFP with vegetables from the garden," said Josefina Trujillo, a teacher at Las Pilas. "It provides the children with more vitamins, giving the food more flavor and the chance to vary the menu."

Las Pilas is a small community in Dario City, Matagalpa. An ongoing drought has plagued farmers in this municipality for several years. Given the scarcity of water, keeping the garden alive has required help from parents, teachers and students. The community keeps water in small plastic containers that can be poured into watering cans and used to replenish the growing vegetables.

Teachers and parents supervise primary students as they weed, water and build stone fences around the garden plot. Working the land has helped the children understand the need to care for and protect the environment while arming them with the knowledge they need to do it.

The success of the project has motivated Las Pilas to create a community garden with support from a local NGO. The partner will provide the community with seeds, fertilizer and technical assistance. Once the garden is up and running, the community will use the produce to make vegetables and fruit a regular part of a student’s daily diet. Excess produce will also be sold to help make the project self-sufficient and allow for the purchase of other commodities to diversify the school menu.

"The School Feeding Program has been an incentive that has helped us improve our community," said Luz Marina Huerta, President of the Parents Council at Las Pilas. "It not only gave us food for our children, but it helped us strengthen our community because we are engaged in so many activities which benefit us all."

Last modified: Monday, April 14, 2008 06:13:23 PM