Project profile — WFP School Feeding Program Support

• Nicaragua (100.00%)

• Basic Health: Basic nutrition (12240) (100.00%)

• Gender equality (not targeted)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (significant objective)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

Hurricane Felix in September 2007 and heavy rainfalls in October of the same year seriously taxed the World Food Programme’s food reserves for Nicaragua. They also seriously damaged the crops in extremely poor areas of the country. CIDA’s support to the World Food Programme School feeding program helps address the needs generated by these disasters. The school feeding program focus is food support for pre-schools and primary schools. By providing a daily nutritious meal to children at school, the program encourages parents to send pupils to school regularly. The school feeding program helps to break the poverty cycle related to malnutrition and hunger by: (i) increasing enrollment and attendance rates; (ii) improving concentration and learning by relieving short-term hunger; and (iii) increasing the primary school completion rate. The key expected results of this project are: (I) timely provision of nutritious food in sufficient quantity for targeted girls and boys, (ii) increased enrolment of boys and girls in assisted schools, (iii) improved attendance of boys and girls in assisted schools, (iv) improved capacity to concentrate and learn among girls and boys in assisted schools. The School feeding program requires 16,755 mt of food for an average of 175, 000 school children beneficiaries per year over five years.

N/A

Results achieved as of March 2012 include: 995,114 children between the age of 3 to 12 received a nutritious meal through the delivery of 114,447,411 meals in 8,195 schools throughout 150 school days; 1800 school gardens implemented; 1,050 parent committees trained in nutrition and food preparation. These results have contributed to more boys and girls attending primary school in World Food Program assisted schools; more girls enrolled in World Food Program assisted primary schools; and fewer children dropping out before completing grade five.

• Proactive disclosure