Support for School Feeding in the Sahel Region of Burkina Faso

The project aims to increase access to primary education for 100 000 girls and boys per school year in primary schools in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso. The Sahel region is affected by recurrent malnutrition leading to high dropout rates. This region shows one of the lowest primary enrollment rates in Burkina Faso. The project aims to increase enrollment and retention of girls and boys in school by improving their nutritional health. The project also aims to strengthen the management capacity of the government and teachers to better support the National School Feeding Program. The main project activities include: i) distribute food rations (two meals per day) to students in targeted primary schools students in the Sahel region (to improve the nutritional health of students and allow them to be able to assimilate education and be more motivated to attend school); ii) increase the number of primary schools participating in the school feeding program; iii) develop a strategy to transfer the responsibility of the school feeding program to the Ministry of National Education and Literacy (MENA); iv) strengthen the technical knowledge of MENA in procurement transportation inventory management ration calculation and monitoring and evaluation by training 200 staff members. This program is jointly implemented by the World Food Program and the MENA.

Intermediate outcomes of this project include: i) the attendance and retention of girls and boys increase in primary schools of the Sahel region; ii) the education system in Burkina Faso provides a better access to universal primary education in the Sahel region.