$21m earmarked for food in schools

Malawi will receive food valued at $21 million (K8.4 billion) from WFP which has been awarded $81 million in food commodities from the US Department of Agriculture to support meals in the classroom for children in the developing world.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will use the food to help children at schools in three other countries: Kenya, Liberia and Cambodia.

“This gift comes at a critical time for WFP’s school meals activities,” said WFP’s Washington director Jon Brause in a statement released Tuesday this week. “With this generous support from USDA, we can continue giving children in developing countries greater opportunities to thrive as adults.”

The commodities being provided by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are rice, yellow split peas, vegetable oil, bulgur [regular and soy-fortified] and a fortified nutritional product called Corn Soy Blend-Plus. Each country will receive food valued at $20 million except Malawi, which will receive food valued at $21 million.

Poor households often must choose between sending their children to school or to work, so a daily school meal is a strong incentive for parents to send children to school.

Last year, WFP provided school meals or take-home rations to 24.7 million children around the world. USDA’s contribution will allow WFP to feed 3.9 million schoolchildren: 1.5 million in Kenya, 1.4 million in Malawi, 578 136 in Cambodia and 454 000 in Liberia.

WFP is working with donors, partners and governments to increase the number of children who receive school meals in the poorest countries.

WFP estimates that for every dollar invested in school feeding activities, at least three dollars are returned as a result of better health and productivity when these children become adults.