WFP approves school feeding project for Malawi

The World Food Programme (WFP) has approved a 59.8 million U.S. dollar project for Malawi through which 635,000 school-going children would be provided with a daily meal in their schools for four years.

A statement issued Tuesday by WFP local office in the Malawian capital of Lilongwe, stated that the project,Support to Primary Education Development Project for Malawi, would be implemented from January 2008 to December 2011.

The WFP said in the statement that the Malawian government would contribute 19.6 million dollars towards the project for staff salaries and monitoring costs while WFP would cough up 40.2 million dollars, mainly for food, transport and other associated costs.

"The idea of working with the government directly is to support national ownership, and we anticipate that the government will eventually take over the school feeding program,'' WFP's Country Director in Malawi, Dom Scalpelli, said in the statement.

Scalpelli said the project would have a huge impact on education and development in Malawi by increasing enrolment rates and reducing drop out rates, particularly among girls and orphans, and by promoting regular attendance.

"The project will also help improve the children's ability to concentrate and learn, especially that around 70 percent of children go to school without having breakfast," the WFP Country Director said.

WFP said the in the current project, community participation would also be an integral part as communities in the targeted schools would be required to sign a community contract, defining the responsibilities of each party before the project starts.

WFP has since 2002 been feeding close to 210,000 primary school children in Malawi's 10 districts as one way of encouraging those children that were in school to remain and also attract those that dropped out to come back.

A study commissioned by UNICEF in Malawi in 2002 found that food shortages increased student absenteeism and dropout rates, particularly during the lean season.

Malawi's traditional lean season runs between December and April when maize is scarcest. During the same period, the price of maize usually rises until the March/April harvest.

The average national dropout rate is 16.1 percent and it is higher for girls than boys.

In the current project, the food agency would be feeding the 635,000 children in 672 schools spread across the country's 14 of all the 28 districts. The children would be provided with a bowl of porridge on every school day throughout the year.

WFP stated that the approved project would enable around 21 percent of Malawi's primary schoolgoing children to enjoy a nutritious meal every day.

"About 114,300 girls and orphaned boys in school will also receive a monthly take-home ration of 12.5 km of staple maize during the lean season, providing an additional incentive for their parents and guardian to send them to school,"the food agency added.