Final: With the USDA contribution, WFP was able to expand its operations in 2001 to reach about 135,000 students. Since the midterm findings were reported, the percentage of the population living below the poverty line rose from 50 to 55% and the percentage of those living in extreme poverty increased from 20 to 25%.

Data from the 1999 National Height for Age Survey of School Entrants (ages 6 to 9 years) in midterm findings indicated that malnutrition affected 30% of school-age children in the general population and 49% in the highlands. The incidence of malnutrition remains far higher in the highland Sierra districts the where most of the USDA-funded project is focused.

In schools assisted by WFP, the inclusion of iron supplements in the daily snack decreased the rate of anemia by more than 38% during the first three years of the project’s implementation.

Midterm: The project provides morning snacks with a nutritional complement to relieve short-term hunger and improve the learning ability of pre-school and primary school children. The direct beneficiaries of the project are approximately 131,000 pre-school and primary school children in the poorest districts of the Sierra. Families also benefit from an income transfer effect when the school snacks are substitutes rather than supplements for meals at home.

More than 50% of the population lives below the poverty line, and 20% suffer conditions of extreme poverty. In the highlands where conditions are most severe, 68% of the population is under the poverty line, and 47% live in extreme poverty. The population in the rural highlands survives mainly on subsistence farming.

Nationally, the average illiteracy rate is 10.7%, and 17.4% for women. In rural areas, the illiteracy rate is 28.1% on average and 45.6% for women.

Malnutrition is a serious and widespread problem in Peru. In 1991, an estimated 37% of children under age 5 were affected by chronic malnutrition, and there have been few indications of improvement. Malnourished children are more prone to infections that tend to be more severe and long lasting than well-nourished children. Illnesses and infection, in turn, exacerbate malnutrition through loss of appetite and lack of nutrients. The 1993 National Height for Age Survey of School Entrants (ages 6 to 9 years, 11 months) indicated that malnutrition affected 48% of school-age children in the country, and 67% in the highlands.

Among other factors, eating habits in the highlands contribute to these conditions. School children in rural areas have the same eating pattern as adults—generally two meals a day of available and inexpensive low-protein commodities. Consumption of meat, fish, and dairy products is constrained by the general poverty of the population. Many children arrive at school without breakfast, which contributes to short-term hunger and reduces learning capacity. Mountain schools lack kitchens and cooking facilities and have scarce fuel supplies. School personnel and parents have limited knowledge of proper food handling and lack the training to prepare safe, nutritious meals, even though they may have access to clean water.

Final: During the last two years, USDA has provided 18,000 tons of wheat to WFP’s school feeding program. The wheat was exchanged to provide students with balanced meals. In total, the exchange yielded 39,328,488 complete rations containing 90 grams of a baked product and 250 grams of a dairy drink enriched with vitamins and minerals. Meals were served once daily.

School feeding committees have been created to coordinate all of the feeding activities at schools including the preparation of snacks. Parents organize themselves in rotating teams to prepare the daily snacks.

Midterm: Over five years, WFP has supplied 100,000 tons of wheat, of which the GFE contribution is 10% or 10,000 tons. The wheat is exchanged on a value basis for the equivalent of approximately 113,898,500 rations. Each portion includes 250 grams of a prepared dairy drink enriched with vitamins and minerals and 90 grams of a baked product made from wheat flour and mixed with other flours from local grains that include quinua, cañihua, and kiwicha, as well as local barley and corn. Student rations contain a nutritive value totaling 600 calories, with 22.5 grams of protein, 20 grams of fat, and a vitamin and mineral supplement with 13.2 milligrams of iron. The rations are prepared and served as two morning snacks that are well accepted by the target groups. The makeup of the ration facilitates its distribution and allows for easier monitoring.

Other donors will provide an additional 2,500 tons of wheat. These contributions will be monetized to cover the costs of a non-governmental organization (NGO) that the Government of Peru will contract to implement the project on its behalf. The NGO, selected through public notice, will be responsible for conducting the project. Under the contract, their responsibilities will include defining the specifications of the commodities, establishing the criteria and procedures for selecting the food processors, carrying out quality control inspection of the food chain, and monitoring and evaluating the project’s impact.

Peru is a low-income, food-deficit country. The educational system has been adversely affected by economic conditions and civil disturbances. A World Bank project to improve educational quality, institutional development, and infrastructure will complement the school-feeding project. The Government of Peru’s national school feeding program reaches 1.85 million students out of the 3 million requiring food support. These feeding programs are coordinated by the Ministry of Education and assisted by the European Union, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and WFP. Under the WFP project, approximately 131,000 students will become beneficiaries. The activity will include nutrition, health, and hygiene instruction with manuals and demonstrations at schools. The WFP-supplied wheat will be monetized to provide a locally produced and enriched snack consisting of a dairy drink and a baked biscuit or panetón that is also enriched with minerals and vitamins.

Final: The findings of a recent Vulnerability Assessment Mapping (VAM) survey helped WFP better target its beneficiary population. In addition, a request for budget revisions has been put forth to extend the school feeding program in Peru until August 2004. During the extension, the current school feeding operation would be phased out in favor of an integrated school feeding activity combining the lessons learned during 1996-2000 and a nutritional intervention for children under five.

WFP Peru is carrying out a new VAM survey to identify areas with high levels of chronic malnutrition and create an integrated approach for school feeding activities that effectively address the country’s immediate and long-term needs.

Midterm: Program goals included:

Food aid will function as:

The Ministry of Education will be responsible for supplying necessary items that meet the requirements related not only to educational functions, but also to the hygienic and efficient preparation and distribution of the food rations. These include fuel-efficient stoves, kitchens and serving equipment, utensils, detergents, soap, tables for food distribution, and training manuals and educational posters.

Final: Beneficiary Enrollment in 2002

Teachers were given nutrition and food management training throughout the project cycle. In turn, they were able to train some 7,000 parents who were placed in charge of the snack preparation in 2,400 schools.

According to WFP monitoring findings, the most important effect of food assistance is the stimulus it provides to parents to enroll their children and encourage regular attendance. Eighty-one percent of the educational centers with school feeding components noted increased attendance reporting a 90% school attendance rate during all calendar months.

In schools assisted by WFP, the inclusion of iron supplements in the daily snack decreased the rate of anemia by more than 38% during the first three years of the project’s implementation. Children participating in the program were reported to be more spirited and attentive during class than before the project began. Nonetheless, studies show that many children are still anemic and that further interventions are needed.

In 2002, WFP and the Ministry of Health undertook the first massive campaign to eradicate intestinal parasites among school feeding beneficiaries. Albendazol (a vermifuge) was distributed twice to all participating students during the course of the school year. The effects of these campaigns have been immediate. De-worming campaigns have contributed to improved nutritional absorption and decreased rates of anemia.

In 2002 school gardens were established at some school sites. Since it has proven difficult to cultivate crops in the highlands because of wide temperature fluctuations and short growing seasons, local NGOs are helping to build greenhouses for the highlands schools. In 2003 the program will use the bags in which the USDA - donated wheat arrived to build green- houses. Parents will be in charge of construction and children will sow seeds and care for the crops.

Midterm: The outputs of the project will be:

Angelina lives with her parents, two brothers and three sisters in the small mountain village of Astobamba. Three additional brothers have died, but Angelina does not know why.

Angelina’s house is made of adobe, with a straw roof and without a paved floor. A single room is used for sleeping and cooking. There is no electricity or running water. Angelina walks fifteen minutes to reach the stream that provides the family’s water. Her family owns half a hectare of land where they grow two types of potatoes; raise five alpacas, and ten sheep. Some days the family has no food to eat.

Angelina’s parents did not attend school, but she and her siblings attend a primary school 10 kilometers away from their home. It takes two hours for the six children to get to school. Years ago, girls did not attend school partly because of the distance of the schools and partly because they were needed to help look for water, gather firewood, pasture domestic animals, and take care of younger brothers and sisters.

Since WFP distributes biscuits and milk to schoolchildren, Angelina’s parents allow all of their daughters to go to school. But Angelina must return home to help her mother when the family runs out of food or when her father has to go to another town to find work. In 2001 Angelina was not allowed to move forward to the next grade because of irregular attendance. Her parents say this will not happen again.

Angelina’s family is only one example of more than three million Peruvian families affected by poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. In the highlands of Peru, 80% of the women are illiterate and 70% of the children are malnourished.

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