Final: The World Food Program’s (WFP) school feeding program in Cambodia fed 291,593 students during the 2001-2002 school year. Out of these beneficiaries, 1,515 boys and girls received take-home rations under a small-scale pilot operation. Beneficiary numbers are continuing to increase and community interest in the program is growing as well. The program’s success and subsequent expansion activities helped WFP feed 317,053 students during the 2002-2003 school year.

In addition to providing school meals during the day, WFP operations also help establish complementary health and sanitation activities that improve the overall educational environment. These activities include the identification of safe drinking water and improvements in basic health, hygiene and sanitation practices for students at school and at home. HIV/AIDS prevention education is a fundamental part of the educational package as is WFP’s de-worming campaign. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF, WFP provides de-worming medicine to students and infection prevention training for all teachers and students.

Midterm: In Takeo Province, WFP provides children with one meal, a breakfast, per day. The meal helps to improve access to education for girls and boys, increases student retention, and improves student performance. The initiative in Cambodia is designed to relieve short-term hunger among school children, particularly those living in remote rural areas where they have to walk long distances to school. Overall enrollment is up 8% in schools where a feeding program has existed over the last three years. Enrollment increased 9.3% for girls and 7.3% for boys. In the schools in which the school feeding program is new, overall enrollment increased by 5.7%, or 6.4% for girls and 5.1% for boys.

Cambodia is emerging from 30 years of warfare and mass displacement. Much of the population of 12 million remains vulnerable to economic threats posed by unequal access to basic goods and services, education, employment, income opportunities and, in many areas, food. The low purchasing power and remoteness of the majority of the population, who live in rural areas, exacerbate food insecurity. The border areas, in particular, remain fragile as previous rebel strongholds are brought into the mainstream of Cambodia’s political system and economy.

Annual per capita income is about US$ 268. More than 40% of the rural population lives below the poverty line. Cambodia is still one of the most heavily land-mined countries in the world.

Access to formal and non-formal education is limited, particularly in rural areas, with girls and women most affected. The literacy rate at 15 years of age and over is estimated at 35%, or 22% for women and 48% for men. Primary education is marked by high repetition and dropout rates, with over 40% repetition rates for both boys and girls in grade one. An alarming rate, less than 40%, of girls complete primary school.

Final: During the 2001-2002 school year, total commodity requirements amounted to 5,102 metric tons and included rice, vegetable oil, canned fish and salt. The United States Department of Agriculture contributed 1,500 metric tons of rice and 160 metric tons of vegetable oil to the program, which amounted to some 33% of totals required. The USDA commodity contributions were combined with other donations and WFP resources to complete student meals. The following chart shows commodity totals and USDA contributions.

The school feeding program has been part of a larger, ongoing WFP Relief and Recovery Operation. Other donors contributing to the school feeding program and the larger relief operation during the 2001-2002 funding period included Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain and the USA.

Midterm: The USDA provided 1,660 metric tons of rice and vegetable oil in support of the WFP Cambodia school feeding activity. The agreement between USDA and WFP was signed in March of 2001.

Final: The school feeding program provides children with a hot breakfast that is cooked on-site daily. The meal contains the standard WFP ration of rice, canned fish, vitamin A fortified vegetable oil, and iodized salt in order to meet the minimal daily nutritional needs of students. Schools participating in school feeding programs are required to provide fresh vegetables, water and fuel for the preparation of the WFP-supplied commodities. Parents and community members who volunteer to prepare the hot meal receive a dry ration of rice for their help.

During the 2001-2002 school year, the program implemented the recommendations from a joint evaluation conducted by UNESCO and WFP in June 2000. The recommendations helped the school feeding program reach students in two additional provinces. The expansion was undertaken in cooperation with Kampuchean Action for Primary Education (KAPE), a local NGO, and UNICEF. Further expansion allowed the program to feed 317,053 students while incorporating an additional province during the 2002-2003 school year.

The long-term objective of providing meals to all school children is expected to help the government achieve its "Education for All" goal by 2015. The immediate objectives are to increase school enrollment and attendance while decreasing dropout rates. By providing a meal in the morning, the program relieves short-term hunger and helps to improve student concentration and the capacity to learn. Experience has also shown that the program can dramatically increase the enrollment of both girls and boys.

WFP has found that identifying and working with partner organizations can help ensure the availability of critical technical and financial support and boost the program’s effectiveness. Implementing partners for the Cambodia effort include the World Bank/EQIP, UNICEF/SIDA, KAPE and other NGOs.

Midterm: In Takeo Province, WFP has joined the World Bank-supported Education Quality Improvement Project (EQIP) within the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MOEYS). The school feeding initiative supports 64 primary schools in the province. By providing children with one meal per day (breakfast), girls’ and boys’ access to basic education is increased, together with retention and achievement. The initiative is designed to relieve short-term hunger among school children, particularly those living in remote rural areas where they have to walk long distances to schools. It also encourages female students to enroll and stay in school in grades four and five, when attendance typically falls and the dropout rate begins to increase sharply.

The costs of providing the meals, apart from WFP’s food provision, are born by the community. A midterm evaluation of the WFP-assisted protracted relief and recovery operation and a subsequent WFP-UNESCO appraisal mission recommended that this initiative be continued in cluster schools where additional inputs from EQIP/MOEYS or other primary education, health, and community support programs are available. This would then bolster the government's community-based reconstruction of the basic education system. It is anticipated that these programs will guide the future development of the national "Education for All" strategies that have been pledged by the Government.

Final: The current strategy for establishing working partnerships in Cambodia has been remarkably successful. Multi-disciplinary collaborative arrangements have helped broaden the program’s impact while promoting flexibility within the core effort. The result has been a greater ability to meet the particular needs of students.

In keeping with WFP’s renewed emphasis on strong government relationships, program managers will seek to strengthen bonds with MOEYS to ensure full integration of WFP-supported activities - especially the school feeding program – into evolving government policies and programs. MOEYS’early success in achieving educational reform suggests that it has the capacity to accomplish other program-related goals.

Creative Approaches: To address the economic impediments that prevent children from getting an education in Cambodia, WFP piloted a new approach. The program offered children extra portions of rice that could be taken home to compensate their families for income they would have earned as laborers had they not been in school. Children who attended school regularly received these "take-home" rations as a reward and an incentive to continue attending classes regularly. Although the program was limited to non-public schools, the pilot program served 1,515 boys and girls. Preliminary findings indicate the approach was successful and is being reviewed for broader application.

Midterm: Overall enrollment increased 8% in schools with an existing feeding program over the last three years, with enrollment up 9.3% for girls and 7.3% for boys. In the schools in which the school-feeding program is in its first year, overall enrollment increased 5.7%, with a 6.4% increase for girls and a 5.1% increase for boys compared with three years ago. Household economic responsibilities stemming from the lack of family resources and the need for children’s labor at home or at other income-producing tasks are the main causes of non-enrollment and absenteeism for girls and boys in Cambodia.