Support to students and families to preserve nutrional status during class suspension

This project supports activities that respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mozambique. This project aims to pivot programming activities during school closures to minimize the impact of health and economic-related shocks resulting from limited mobility and loss of income felt by students and their families. This project modified its modality from on-site school meals to take-home rations for students and their families preserving nutritional status and educational outcomes. Food baskets continue to support 41 000 children initially targeted by the project to maintain distance-learning and help create favourable conditions for their return once schools reopen. The proposed approach supports 28 700 households over three months with a minimum nutritional and caloric intake. Food baskets are used as a platform to increase communication around COVID-19 prevention measures such as hygiene and social distancing. The project also reached the Cabo Delgado province currently experiencing a humanitarian crisis resulting from an increasing number of internally displaced persons and rising COVID-19 rates.

The expected outcomes for this project include (1) more equitable nutrition; (2) increased school attendance; and (3) improved retention for girls in food-insecure districts.