News and media

A little project that makes a big difference: that is how one might describe the school lunch programs launched two years ago in a number of localities on the outskirts of Bamako. The initiative has proven remarkably effective in alleviating malnutrition, improving kids’ performance at school, and stimulating the local economy.

Inspired by the model of collective kitchens and breakfast clubs, these programs are primarily designed to meet schoolchildren’s nutritional needs. The kids in question attend primary school in one of six rural villages of Koulikoro, where CECI is launching the project due to the high prevalence of malnutrition there.
“At noon the children used to go home, where often there was nothing to eat. For shame of sending their kids back to school on an empty stomach, the parents kept them home, so there was a lot of afternoon absenteeism,” explains Selly Ouane, Executive Director of Woïyo Kondèye, a Malian NGO that has partnered with CECI to carry out the project. “With the school lunch programs, parents don’t have to worry about giving their kids lunch because the school takes care of it.”
Every day after the morning classes, the children are served a lunch prepared by women from the village, mainly mothers of students who have been given prior training in nutrition. “We show them how to make best use of local and seasonal food resources in order to produce balanced, complete, healthy, nourishing meals,” says Ms. Ouane. “In addition to learning about the nutritional value of foods, the participants rediscover a good number of neglected or disregarded local food items and dishes.”

Positive results

The school lunch project, part of an effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals of providing education for all and overcoming the scourge of malnutrition, was quick to produce positive outcomes.
“The results are numerous and highly encouraging,” according to Al Assane Sanogo, CECI Director for Mali and Coordinator of the Uniterra program. “As the students’ nutritional needs were met, we observed that they became more diligent in their studies and better able to concentrate. What’s more, their academic results and attendance records improved.” It is to be expected that the project will also serve to reduce malnutrition in the country. In 2006, nearly 17% of the population suffered from serious nutritional deficiencies.

While schoolchildren are the main beneficiaries of the school lunch program, every member of the small communities of Wolodo, Zantiguila, Nianina, Korokoro, Fadiola, and the commune of Zan Coulibaly is in fact benefiting.
“The meals are made from foods and condiments which the schools purchase from local farmers in order to stimulate the economy. All these positive factors give rise to social cohesion and new pride among members of the participating communities,” adds Sanogo.

Working together for school lunches

If CECI was able to support the initial implementation of the school lunch programs, it was as the result of an organized fundraising effort. The current goal is to guarantee the sustainability of the project, which has already done a great deal for the economic and social development of the localities in question.
“It is the communities who must take charge of the project. At the moment, the school lunch programs survive thanks to a system of shared costs: subsidies on the one hand, and the parents’ annual contribution on the other. Each student must provide 50 kg of grain every year,” says Sanogo. “Our next step is to find local financial support to keep the initiative going.”

While the financial issues are still to be worked out, what is clear is that public enthusiasm for the school lunch programs is running high. The beneficiary groups are grateful, but more than that, they are active participants in the stewardship of the project through joint management committees.
“Through the work of these committees, the participating communities are readying themselves to take full control of the day-to-day management of the school lunch programs,” according to Maude Benny and Alexandra Baril, CECI volunteers involved in the project. “To date, we have been assisting groups with different jobs, including farmwork. In the medium-term, the management committees will have the capacity to create grain banks, harvest their own food, and guarantee the quality of the meals served.”
In parallel with the public organizing around this project, elected officials are taking an ever-growing interest in it. To all appearances, a bright future is in store for Mali’s school lunch programs.

By Julie Roy

Photo : Maude Benny-Dumont
Production vidéo : ORTM 2010