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‘School feeding programmes create the taste and habits of the future generations’

Mr. Fransen Jean, food security officer for the FAO sub-regional office in the Caribbean, talks with the RAES platform about school feeding programmes in the region

Paulo Beraldo

School feeding programmes are great policy instruments that can shape the taste, eating and consumption habits of this generation and those ones to come, evaluates Fransen Jean, food security officer for the FAO sub-regional office in the Caribbean. Mr. Jean acknowledged that SFPs are relevant, to all families, especially to those vulnerable ones, as they provide healthy and nutritious food, which otherwise would not be possible because of the high cost of healthy diets in the LAC countries. He, further, reminded regions like the Caribbean have one of the highest costs of healthy diets around the globe.

Hence, he recognized and acknowledged the important progress made in the recent years with the support of Brazil-FAO Cooperation and others to position and promote a more sustainable school feeding approach that offers healthy diets and creates market opportunities for local farmers.

Moving forward, Mr. Jean understood that governments and stakeholders will have important challenges to face if those programs are to maintain their relevance. Chief is a budget constraint which goes hand in hand with the need for important business process reengineering. 

What’s the importance of school feeding programmes in the Caribbean countries nowadays, especially in terms of food security? 

While most countries in the Caribbean, particularly the English speaking ones, are categorised as upper middle or high income level countries, it is important  to recognise that there are important socio-economic challenges specific to the region associated with food and nutrition security. In several of those countries there are territories with several living in poverty, undernourishment and micronutrient deficiencies. Poor eating habits and lack of access to healthy diets have made the region one with the highest level of obesity and deaths caused by noncommunicable diseases. One in every five adult living in Caricom countries is obese. Similarly, one out of every three women of productive age is affected by anemia.

The lack of access to affordable healthy diets is the main driving factor of those problems. Most Caribbean countries are net-importers of foods.

 For the average consumer in most of those countries, eating healthy and nutritious is almost impossible. They end up opting for cheaper options, high in sugar, in salt, in saturated fat and sodium. Hence, creating a vicious cycle of bad eating habits that define our entire food systems. 

The school feeding programmes have a very important role in breaking such a cycle. They are more than just an opportunity to promote access to a given recommended dietary energy. They are an opportunity to craft tastes and habits of eating healthy, to drive local production and foster local economies with smallholder and local farmers, finding a secure market to sell their products.

Also, they are an opportunity to bring actors and institutions together – health, education, agriculture, and even the private sector.

In which results has Brazil-FAO Cooperation been important to the region in the last years when we talk about SFPs?

Nowadays, I believe, most Caribbean stakeholders understand the importance and benefit that school feeding programs can bring. Several of them have been trained in several aspects associated with the sustainable school feeding approach which is modelled after the experience of Brazil.

This would not be possible without important awareness building activities and exposure to successful models, tools, practices and experiences, thanks to the support of the Brazil-FAO Cooperation.

Can you talk a bit more about the Sustainable School feeding approach? 

Yes, it is made of six components. The first one stresses for intersectoral and inerinstitutional coordination. The second addresses the participation of communities, including  PTA, principals and farmers. The third deals with nutritional standards, including healthy menus that are in line with the context and preferences of communities.  The 4th  promotes the establishment of school gardens as a learning tool for food and nutrition education.

The fifth makes sure that there is appropriate infrastructure and materials, such as small storage, food processors, freezers, cafeterias where students can sit and socialize while eating their meals. And lastly, the procurement of products from smallholder and local farmers which goes together with capacity improvement for those small farmers in areas such as good agricultural practices, food safety and post-harvesting, cooperativism, business development; and procurement system and mechanisms.

What are the main advances Caribbean countries had in school feeding programmes during this process?

I believe the shift in mindset to understand that school feeding programs can and should be strengthened, alongside the commitment of leaders and decision makers are probably the greatest progress we could have had.

Several governments in the region have requested support from FAO and other agencies to help them improve their national program.Similarly, some existing projects, donors and the academia are now starting to consider school feeding related activities as priorities.

As we talk, there are  nine countries out of the 15 Caribbean Community where some type of actions associated with piloting the sustainable school feeding approach is being supported.

I can mention the case of Belize, where the government has initiated the process of development a national healthy start feeding policy, inspiring of the sustainable school feeding approach. Also, St. Lucia, Suriname, Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Bahamas are in the process of fine-tuning their vision for a national school feeding policy that takes into consideration elements of the sustainable school feeding approach. 

All these are being with a very important involvement and leadership of the academia, which I believe is crucial. For instance, the University of the West Indies (UWI) is working with the governments of Suriname and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the University of Guyana with Guyana and the University of Bahamas with the government of Bahamas. 

What do you consider necessary to achieve a reality in which all Caribbean countries have sustainable school feeding programmes? 

 That is a very important question. One of the biggest challenges and constraints is budget, although it’s not necessarily the main constraint. My dream would be a day in the near future some of the new funding schemes, for instance, the Global Environment Fund (GEF) or the Green Climate Fund (GCF), etc could recognize the multidimensional contribution and importance of school feeding programmes to address many of the challenges faced by our societies.

I would also mention the need for some important structural changes, which would include changes in some policies and mindset as it relates to the way how policies are driven and implemented in the Caribbean. To give an example: procurement policies in some countries will require important changes or new policies that are more smallholder farmers friendly will need to be promoted for  small farmers to be able to supply their products to the school feeding programs.

Which demands do you believe partners and alliances can help meet towards this goal of achieving a sustainable school feeding programme in each Caribbean country?

I would say four:

1. Training and capacity building,

2. Possibility to experiment and learn from existing good experiences and practices,

3. Access to  proven tools, standards and methodologies, and

4. Financing.

Implementing sustainable school feeding programmes is about making important changes, so countries need training and information. This is critical. I believe, whenever there is the possibility for Caribbean stakeholders to have access to training and exposure to good practices, that will be welcome. Training in terms of policy development, nutrition education for SFPs, training for the preparation of the meals for the cooks, the way how the recipes can be prepared, adjustments in procurement guidelines to best link with farmers, etc can be considered. 

Having access to some tools, standards and methodologies that can be useful for Caribbean countries, throughout the process of implementing school feeding programmes can be of great importance. I believe, platforms like the RAES one should offer such opportunities for countries to have access to those readily available and proven tools, standards and methodologies.

On the financing part, I believe It is important to support  business process reengineering with the governments to improve their funding opportunities and increase the share allocated to school feeding. This goes with greater collaboration with parliamentarians, the private sector and others. In all these, new funding schemes such as GEF, GCF and others have an important role to play.