The Democratic Republic of the Congo has suffered enormously from armed conflict within its borders. Millions of lives have been lost. Many others have been forced to flee fighting in different sections of the country. According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), “Nearly one million people are estimated to be displaced in North and South Kivu alone.” In such a war-torn land hunger and poverty are rampant. School feeding programs are a key part of the World Food Programme’s response to the crisis. We will take a closer look at school feeding in this interview with Emily Doe, WFP Programme Officer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

Between January and May of 2008, WFP fed over 260,000 primary school children and about 12,000 pre-school children in four provinces (North and South Kivu, Katanga, and Equateur). We are targeting over 530,000 children in 1085 schools in six of the 11 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo starting September, 2008. We will gradually increase to assisting 595,000 children during 2009. The program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is emergency school feeding, so 10,500 teachers are also targeted for feeding to encourage them come to school regularly (despite low salaries and delays in payments).

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

The hot meals, served six days a week, are a motivating factor for parents to send children to school and for the children themselves to remain in school. Most families in the Democratic Republic of the Congo cannot afford more than one meal a day, served in the evening before bedtime. Most children go to school on an empty stomach, therefore the meal taken at school compensates for breakfast and lunch. The meals are served during recreation (mid-morning) and gives children the energy needed to make it through the rest of the school day. The feeding encourages regular school attendance and allows children to be more attentive and focused during class. Parents prefer to send their children to schools which run the feeding program because they are assured their children will have a meal and be less likely to leave class due to hunger. School feeding has become even more critical with the on-going food price crisis.

The food basket (cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, and salt) is quite balanced in terms of nutritional value. The food basket for pre-school children (corn soya blend, oil, and sugar) is strictly for nutritional purposes. Most areas where the program runs have high levels of food insecurity and problems of malnutrition. The feeding is meant to help combat malnutrition.

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

WFP intervenes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo through a Protracted Relief and Rehabilitation Operation in provinces where vulnerability to food insecurity has been analyzed as very high. Most of the assistance is humanitarian emergency assistance, in particular life-saving activities (related to internally displaced persons and returnees). Therefore, WFP is not and cannot be the solution to making school meals available to all children. There are over 20,000 public primary schools and WFP is reaching only 5% of that number in the six provinces of intervention. With a strong involvement and more resources, the Congolese government, together with donors and other operational partners, could gradually increase the number of benefiting schools.

What would be the sources of funding for any expansion of the school feeding program?