Population of Children under School Feeding Programmes Reaches 466 Million Worldwide

•Growth fastest in School Meals Coalition, where Nigeria is member

•Low income countries record 60% increase in number of benefiting children

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

A new report has revealed that school meals programmes are the largest social safety net in the world, helping countries absorb shocks, with nearly 80 million more children worldwide now receiving meals through government-led programmes than in 2020.

According to the latest edition of The State of School Feeding Worldwide, a flagship biennial report released by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), this is a 20 per cent increase, in just four years, in the number of children receiving meals in school through domestic programmes.

National governments are leading the global expansion, prioritising children’s well-being, the WFP report said.

Nigeria recently relaunched its school feeding programme with a target of 10 million children nationwide.

The growth of school meals programmes is fastest in countries that are part of the School Meals Coalition, a global network led by over 100 governments, six regional bodies, hosted by WFP as its secretariat, and supported by over 140 partners across sectors.

Although Nigeria is a member of the coalition, its school feeding programme has been enmeshed in transparency controversy, especially under the past government of late President Muhammadu Buhari, when the then Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, claimed to have spent over N500 million to feed pupils in Ogun and Lagos states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in less than two months, at a time the entire country, including schools, was on COVID-19 lockdown.

The WFP report, stated that two out of every three newly reached children with school meals were in the coalition member countries. It outlined how the coalition was being celebrated as a model of modern multilateralism, adding that through its efforts, the number of countries with national school meals policies has nearly doubled since 2020, from 56 to 107.

The 20 per cent increase brought the global total to no fewer than 466 million children on school meals.

The report underscored the fact that progress was happening where it was needed most, with low income countries increasing the number of children receiving school meals by 60 per cent in the past two years.

Africa is leading the surge, with an additional 20 million African children now fed through national school meals programmes, notable progress being made in Kenya, Madagascar, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. The report stated that this rare success in the development space was being led by governments around the world, driven by strong evidence that domestic school meal programmes not only supported children’s well-being, but also had far-reaching benefits for small-holder farmers and local employment, as well as encouraged planet-friendly diets and reduced carbon emissions.

WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain, said, “School meals are so much more than just a plate of nutritious food – important as that is. For the vulnerable children who receive them, they are a pathway out of poverty and into a new world of learning and opportunity. “Governments around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries, are showing real leadership by choosing to prioritise school meals programmes.

“They are proven to be one of the smartest, most cost-effective investments any nation can make to improve the long-term health, education and economic prosperity of future generations.

“WFP is grateful for the transformative partnerships built through the School Meals Coalition and we encourage even more governments to join this global movement.”

The report further revealed that global funding for school meals had more than doubled, rising from $43 billion in 2020 to $84 billion in 2024, with 99 per cent of the funding now coming from national budgets.

That signalled a significant shift, with school meals no longer seen as a foreign aid programme, but as a powerful public policy that could drive national development.

But domestic funding is lower in low-income countries, where resources remain limited and needs are highest, the report stated.

WFP’s Director of School Meals and Social Protection and Director of the WFP-hosted School Meals Coalition Secretariat, Carmen Burbano, said, “Governments are showing real leadership through the School Meals Coalition, chaired by Brazil, Finland, and France, and hosted by WFP, as they invest in their children and communities.

“The surge in nationally funded school meal programmes is a powerful sign of what’s possible, even in challenging times. But in low-income countries, where needs are greatest, progress remains at risk as global aid shifts and domestic resources fall short.”

The report was released a week before the second School Meals Coalition Global Summit in Brazil, scheduled to hold between September 18 and 19, where leaders will meet to take stock of progress and mobilise further action.

New emerging evidence, published for the first time in the State of School Feeding Worldwide report, demonstrated how school meals could contribute towards addressing today’s “Learning Crisis”, by boosting learning, and cognitive skills, with gains in maths and literacy.

Before now, strong evidence had existed on how school meals could boost school enrolment and retention, but this emerging field of study now showed that school meals were also a highly cost-effective way to improve the quality of education, often outperforming traditional education interventions, like teacher training or tech inputs.

Beyond education, the State of School Feeding Worldwide Report also highlighted the broad cross-sectoral impact of school meal programmes.

It stated that they were the largest social safety net in the world, helping countries absorb shocks – from climate to pandemics to war – and reach the most vulnerable children.

They were also cost-effective and a high-impact investment because they delivered returns across different sectors (education, health, social protection and agriculture), the report said.

It said for every $1 invested, they generated between $7 and $35 in economic benefits.

The report observed that school meals could also be a powerful engine for local job creation.

It said delivering school meals to 466 million children generated an estimated 7.4 million cooking jobs globally, with further employment across logistics, farming, and supply chains, driving both direct and indirect job creation.

Sustainable school meal models, such as home-grown school feeding programmes, could promote healthier, eco-friendly diets, and serve as catalysts for creating locally rooted food systems that boost local and national economies, the report said.

It said girls benefitted more than boys from school meals in terms of education and health outcomes. It said similar benefits were seen for women, too, as the programmes empowered women economically by expanding their roles in food supply chains and community-based employment, for example, as cooks in schools.

In the new report, WFP detailed its leadership in school meals, which exemplified the UN food agency’s long-term, transformative solutions that built national capacity and resilience.

WFP currently supports governments to reach 139 million children and delivers school meals directly to 21 million children. Beyond that, it uses its operational expertise as a frontline emergency responder, such as in Haiti, to support governments to strengthen their national systems.

In Armenia, Benin Republic, and Iraq, for example, WFP has supported the transition of school meals programmes from relying on it for programme delivery to full national ownership.