- Started in 2016,as Food for All Ghana School Feeding program.
- 12 schools with over 80% meals recovered.
WHY LUNCH BOX SCHOOL FEEDING INITIATIVE
39 billion in-school meals missed since the start of Covid-19 pandemic- UNICEF
Consistent and reliable channels to address children’s nutritional and educational issues
2.9 million Ghanaian children missed out of school meals. 24% of children deaths in Ghana are due to malnutrition
GSFP plagued with political partisanship, manipulation and expediency limiting the implementation in all qualified schools
- 33% of children in Ghana (age 6-18 yrs.) are stunted due to malnutrition. Stunting affects child’s ability to comprehend and concentrate during class. Stunted children are more likely to fail in education by 2% compared to nourished children.
Food for All Africa launched the school feeding program in 2016, establishing school feeding kitchens in the poorest and unreached primary schools in order to provide a daily hot nutritious meal to students throughout their school year.
As at 2019, FFAA was serving more than 300 hot nutritious meals daily in 3 school kitchens in 2 regions, and hired more than 10 mothers in the kitchen teams.
Then came COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic brought to a halt the educational calendar of all schools in Ghana and had many implications on the Ghanaian economy including the livelihood of parents and their children. Schools were greatly affected as many of them collapsed. In an effort to ensure school children get access to food support whiles at home during the lockdown, Food for All Africa worked with School authorities to deliver food bags on biweekly & monthly basis within their homes.
We distributed over 50,000 food bags to out of school children in 5 regions of Ghana. An intervention that was highly effective and ensured school children and their immediate families had a means to regular nutrition.
In the face of COVID-19 came HELP
"The GFN Effect”
In anticipation to Government re-opening schools, FFAA carried out an assessment on its school feeding program and with a seed grant from Beiersdorf CWA, The Global FoodBanking Network and United Way Global.
75 schools in 8 regions were assessed through
- Site visits
- Virtual & in-person Stakeholder Consultation
- Review of available literature
- Reporting
Objectives of the Assessment
Identify and assess potential beneficiary schools to partner with on the programme
Create sustainable operational and funding model for the programme
Mobilize local support from stakeholders in the implementation of the programme
Strengthen collaboration with parents teacher associations in implementation of the programme
Ensure effective utilization of grant funding for the programme by the Global Food Banking network, Beiersdorf and United Way Worldwide
Create and adapt a post COVID-19 guidelines to ensure safety of school children after reopening
25 Schools Selected
25 deprived schools across Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Ashanti and Volta regions of Ghana
Each benefiting from
- One academic year supply of free food ingredients
- PPEs, Lunch bowls for individual meals and Hygiene materials
- Renovation of 12 school kitchens and provision of safe meal spaces
- Food safety, recipe generation and hygiene training for school feeding caterers
OUTPUT
6,494 children are benefiting from
- Daily supply of one hot nutritious meal for 5 days a week
- 519,520 meals served in 80 days
- 12 School kitchens renovated
- Lunch boxes, handwashing machines and PPEs supplied and in use to the beneficiary schools
- Recovering additional food products and distributed