The mid-morning snack provided through the school feeding program is prepared with sweetened Corn-Soya Blend (CSB), enriched with vitamins and minerals to provide much needed micronutrients to the children. After the publication of the Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA) in 2007, its results were integrated in our school feeding program. The CFSVA found that fat consumption in rural areas of Laos is very low, so vegetable oil was added to the CSB recipes of the mid-morning snack in order to improve fat intake.
What plans are there for making school lunches available for all children?
Since February 2009, the school feeding program has expanded its geographical coverage in Laos. With the new project areas – the three southern provinces of Saravane, Sekong and Attapeu – WFP will be able to reach almost 40,000 more students in an area with very poor enrollment and attendance rates and high gender gaps in education.
School feeding is officially recognized by the Ministry of Education as an important component of the Education Sector Development Framework (ESDF) 2009-2015, which praises its role in encouraging “children in lower primary grades from more disadvantaged communities to remain in school”.
The ESDF also considers among its medium to long-term priorities the extension of school feeding to the 47 districts identified by the government as the poorest and in the most urgent need of assistance. Moreover, the Lao PDR Ministry of Education is increasingly assuming ownership of the school feeding project, which is the key to promoting its longer-term sustainability.
What would be the sources of funding for any expansion of the school feeding program? What has been the effect of high food prices in this funding effort?
In 2007, WFP submitted a project proposal to the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program and was very fortunate to be awarded a contribution of more than US$9 million over three years, which is being used to finance the expansion of the program to the south. Starting in 2008, the US government, through McGovern-Dole, will provide WFP with in-kind contributions to cover the needs of the new areas for three years.
Rising food prices have affected WFP Laos over the past few years. As prices seem to have stabilized in 2008, we now fear that the current global financial crisis will mean that donors’ ability to support us will be affected. A small country office like Laos is constantly engaged in fundraising and often on the brink of pipeline breaks whenever contributions lack. Continued funding from donor governments and the private sector is crucial.
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