Governments unveil priorities to achieve universal school meals

By Daniel Dembede

Ministers and other high-level government representatives from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America unveiled priorities to accelerate global collective efforts to ensure all children have access to school meals by 2030.

The announcement, focused on pressing financial needs, was made at the second Ministerial Meeting of the School Meals Coalition Task Force, hosted by the government of Kenya.

The priorities aim to combat childhood hunger and poverty, while addressing critical education and environmental issues, strengthening local food systems and local economies, and creating jobs.

In his keynote address at the Ministerial Meeting, President Wiliam Ruto of Kenya emphasised steadfast commitments in scaling up school meals globally, under the School Meals Coalition.

He called for a multisectoral approach and greater investment to build sustainable planet-friendly school meal programs.

“We have tripled the budget allocation for school meals, set a clear goal to reach 10 million children by 2030 and launched the National School meals Coalition, alongside an operational plan to scale up school meals,” he said.

World Ford Program (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain said:

“We have taken significant strides towards our shared goal of ensuring healthy school meals for every child, everywhere, by 2030. There is a lot of work ahead, especially to ensure all governments are able to finance this vital investment, but we’re committed to working with our partners to drive progress.”

“WFP also looks forward to deepening our collaboration with the government of Kenya, serving as the secretariat for the global School Meals Coalition and for Kenya’s new National School Meals Coalition.”

According to the Coalition’s Sustainable Financing Initiative cost analysis, to reach an additional estimated 236 million children in these countries, funding of about USD 3.6 billion is needed.

Out of this, an estimated USD 1.2 billion will be needed in new and additional aid to support countries still transitioning to full funding of school meals programs.

Addressing the Task Force, Roy Steiner, Senior Vice President for the Food Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, stressed that:

“School meals are also a powerful demand driver as they feed 20% of the population one meal a day. School meals can be an entry-point for food system transformation, as we have seen in Brazil, driving demand for locally grown and potentially climate-resilient agriculture.”

Pasi Hellman, Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Finland, and co-chair of the Coalition Task Force stated:

 “As we gather today, we must remember the challenges the world is facing. The global landscape is shifting rapidly. Our intention with the efforts of the School Meals Coalition is to respond to some of those challenges, such as the learning crisis and unsustainable food systems with effective policies.” 

The Ministerial meeting took place ahead of the G20 Heads of State Summit in Brazil on 18-19 November.

Driven by Brazil’s G20 Presidency, the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is set to be launched at the summit, with school meals as a key cost-effective policy intervention to help tackle hunger and poverty worldwide.

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