The government has announced that it will expand a cooked school meal programme to reach 400,000 children of 2,000 schools at 16 upazilas.
The programme was successfully piloted by the World Food Programme (WFP), said a media release on Wednesday.
That pilot, started in 2013, gives school children fresh, hot school meals in Bamna and Islampur upazilas. Locally-sourced fresh vegetables are included along with lentils and micronutrient-fortified rice and oil. The pilot has shown that these fresh meals are a cost-effective approach to combat micronutrient deficiency.
“We thank the government for their initiative to transition from fortified biscuits to fresh, hot meals. Nutritious meals for school children have a high return on investment, as they improve children’s health and productivity throughout their life,” said Richard Ragan, WFP Representative and Country Director, at a school meals policy consultation in Dhaka on Wednesday. The expansion, funded by the Bangladesh government, represents a US$20 million investment in the future health and productivity of these students. In addition, for the first time, the government will contribute US$3.6 million to support WFP-implemented school feeding in impoverished schools in the country. This contribution will help WFP reach over 172,000 school children in 2019.
