The African nation of Burundi faces many challenges to overcome hunger and poverty. A civil war devastated the country and displaced many of its citizens. Recovering from that tragedy alone is daunting when you consider the physical and emotional damage. When you add the effect of climate change, crop diseases and high food prices the task becomes even more difficult.

School feeding plays its role in helping the people of Burundi rebuild, which includes assisting the growing number of those returning to the country after fleeing the fighting. We will look at the status of this program in this interview with Liliane Bigayimpunzi, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Director of School Feeding in Burundi.

How many children are benefiting from the WFP School feeding programs within the country?

WFP reached a total of 265,350 pupils in 250 schools and seven provinces in the 2007/2008 school year.

Discuss what effect the meals have on the children in terms of school attendance, performance, and nutrition.

WFP assisted School Feeding Program targets children living in the most food insecure provinces of Burundi. The program targets schools with poor education in terms of enrollment rate, disparity between boys and girls, and areas that show a high concentration in Returnees.

Since the launch of the School Feeding Program in 2003, enrollment rates are on the increase in the seven provinces where the program has been implemented. In Karusi and Cankuzo provinces, the enrollment rate increased to 58.1 percent in 2007/2008 from 42.5 percent in 2003/2004. The School Feeding Program has also succeeded in raising awareness among parents regarding the importance of education, particularly for the girls. This is especially true of food insecure households that have a hard time providing a daily meal to their children.

The Take Home Ration serves as an incentive to encourage parents to continue sending their girls to school after the age of 12. This is necessary due to high drop-out rates among girls due to early marriages.

Reducing dropout rates in assisted schools is another success of the School Feeding Program. In the Karusi Province, dropout rates decreased from 17.8 percent in 2004/2005 to 3.9 percent in 2006-2007.

What plans are there for making school meals available for all children?

Currently, WFP Burundi is in the final year of implementing a Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation. A successor program for the period 2009-2010 has been prepared and will be presented to WFP's Executive Board in the next few months. Due to resource limitations, WFP had to prioritize its assistance for the School Feeding Program. The selected seven provinces manifested food insecurity and the highest numbers of Returnees. Resources permitting, WFP will be able to expand the School Feeding Program assistance to other needy provinces/communities.