The first school meal that Aida, 10, in Kyrgyzstan had was warm soup with a sweet bun.
“I remember being full and I had so much energy after the meal,” she told the World Food Programme (WFP). “We attend five classes a day, with very short breaks between them, and lunch is served after the third class. If we don’t sit down for lunch, my friends and I would be very hungry. Lunchtime helps me get energy for the rest of the school day.”
Since that first meal, Aida has participated in WFP’s Optimizing School Meals Program, which provides daily meals to students who may not otherwise have access to a lunch.
The meals help to provide the fuel that she needs to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor so that she can help with vaccination efforts — a dream that was shaped by the turmoil of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
School meals are a lifeline — and the School Meals Coalition (SMC) is on the front lines of ensuring that children in educational contexts around the world like Aida have access to something to eat to get them through the day.
For every $1 invested in school meals, communities receive $9 in economic returns, according to analysis by WFP. Despite this bargain, school meal programs around the world remain underfunded.
“The question to me is: ‘What’s the cost of not providing a school meal to all the children on the planet?’ If you want increased poverty, don’t provide school meals,” David Beasley, the executive director of WFP, said in a statement. “If you want more child marriages, don’t provide school meals. If you want more destabilization and migration, and recruitment by extremist groups, don’t provide school meals.
“But if you want to see stronger local communities, and teen-pregnancy rates drop, and educational opportunities increase, and GDP and economic empowerment, especially of girls — if you want to see that increase, then provide school meals,” he said.
Here are five things to know about the benefits of school feeding programs.
1. School meals keep children, especially girls, in school.
Many children in low-income and crisis-affected settings struggle to attend school because hunger and economic pressure pull them away from learning. Providing meals at school gives families a reason to send their children — especially girls — to class, boosting attendance, concentration, and retention.
According to the latest WFP data, nearly 466 million children currently receive school meals through government-led programmes worldwide — a figure that has grown by around 80 million in the past few years, highlighting strong expansion of these efforts.
2. School meals provide essential nutrition for growth and health.
For many children, the meal they eat at school may be the only consistent nutritious meal they receive all day. These meals help ensure children get essential nutrients, supporting both physical growth and cognitive development.
Healthy eating habits learned at school also help reduce long-term risk of malnutrition and improve overall health outcomes.
3. School meals provide support to local farmers.
The best school meal programs are community-based and provide financial support to local farmers. In doing so, they help generate economic activity, allow farmers to improve their operations, and expand local agriculture. They also ensure that children are receiving fresh and healthy ingredients on a daily basis.
In Timbuktu, in Mali, local food producers are providing meals to children with support from WFP based on local traditions, while ensuring adequate nutrition.
4. School meals help families save money.
School feeding programmes ease the burden on families by lowering the cost of daily food for parents. This not only helps families make ends meet, it also can free up household funds for essentials like healthcare, clothing, and school supplies.
In many situations, encouraging families to send children to school with the promise of a meal can help keep children from entering early marriage, child labour, or other forms of labour out of economic necessity.
5. School meals create positive ripple effects.
School meals seem simple. And, in material terms, they are — a plate of rice and lentils, a bowl of soup with bread. But they’re also building blocks toward a brighter, more dignified future.
Of course, many other factors have to be in place to ensure children thrive — such as good schools, freedom from violence and trauma, and adequate health care. But the importance of food can’t be overstated.
When children have daily access to nutritious food, they’re able to emerge into their full potential. The $9 generated for every $1 invested in school meal programs shows how investing in children is good for the whole of a community as well.
School meals contribute to an environment where girls avoid early marriage and pregnancy and go onto higher education, where jobs and local entrepreneurialism get created, and where well-being becomes the norm.