Food and Nutrition Programme NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency

School Meals Planner Package: Improving Nutrition, benefiting agriculture Josephine Kiamba, NEPAD ADFNS 2015

A Global Response School Feeding 368 million children fed every school day. Every country in the world does it to some extent. US$ 75 billion global business

HGSF : A Win – Win – Win… Links agriculture, education, health and nutrition In 2003 African governments included nationally sourced school feeding in Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) NEPAD launched Home-Grown School Feeding programme, with 12 countries invited to implement pilots. But took off only in a few countries (Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Ethiopia). Today many more countries asking for assistance and more partners willing to support HGSF. Programmes still small and great need for scale up. HGSF in Africa

School Feeding/ Nutrition An Opportunity for Knowledge Exchange High income countries are now re-evaluating their school feeding programmes to improve food quality and nutrition standards Low and middle income country are looking to purchase food locally to stimulate nutrition focused agriculture thereby improving food quality and nutrition standards

The Implementer’s Need Nutrition programmes are difficult to implement. People on the ground often lacking: – Expertise – Time – Resources Need to …… enable implementers to plan and create nutritionally balanced and fully costed meals using locally available food.

Why plan a school meal? –Part of a strategy aimed at improving school based nutrition and health services Links the local food basket to nutrition Diversification of the ration/food basket: Children eat healthily, Help to change/modify behaviour Children demand diverse diets at home Nutrition education: to support demand for healthy diets, influences future behaviour Helps promote nutrition sensitive agriculture

See for yourself visit - Nutritionally Balanced Programmes Made Easier Users steps 1.Select age and RDA targets. 2.Create a meal by choosing ingredients from a specially locally defined list of ingredients. 3.The gingerbread children slowly fill up. 4.The cost of the meal are clearly displayed. 5.Users are able to add meals together to form weekly, monthly, annual menus.

Quality Assured Data as Gingerbread The SMP uses: 1.WHO Nutritional guidelines and RDAs 2.Locally adapted Food Composition Tables (FCT). 3.Accurate market costings.

100g Maize porridge & 100g Pigeon peas

100g Maize porridge & 100g Cassava leaves

100g Maize porridge & 100g Orange flesh sweet potato

An Integrated Approach The School Meals Planner Package also includes: 1)Handy measures Everyday measures (buckets, spoons, bowls etc) which have been calibrated so cooks can accurately recreate nutritionally balanced meals 2)Nutritional and Hygiene training for cooks Training materials and workshops 3)Promoting good nutrition practices in school and in the community Posters, radio jingles, community meetings, community health champions 4) Complimentary interventions Deworming, micronutrient powders to tackle anaemia and Water, sanitation and hygiene trainings.

School Meals Planning in Ghana Ghana School Feeding programme covers 1.6 million children everyday. Three objectives - increase school enrollment, boost agricultural production, tackle malnutrition. Programme started without nutritional standards. Measuring/monitoring of food quantities difficult (disparity in food quantities).

SMP Nationally Adopted in Ghana Rolled out nationally as part of the Ghana School Feeding Programme Nutritional targets established for GSFP. National/ regional/ local training. Adopted nationally by the Government of Ghana for use in all school meal preparation.

Unique Selling Points Easy to use and understand – You don’t need to be a nutritionist to use it. Local ingredients – Tailored food composition tables Market prices – Users able to fully cost their meals Nutritional content of cooked & raw ingredients – More accurate nutritional data The integrated approach – Handy measures, training, community sensitization

School Meals Planning Tool: Potential A big need for a tool such as this where skills and tools for menu planning are limited. Tool is visual and can encourage participatory planning and learning. Growing demand for HGSF – to address nutrition, social protection, and agriculture. Tool could promote diversification in agriculture

THANK YOU! To find out more and try out the school meal planner visit -