National

A Brazilian delegation supported by the World Food Program (WFP) is in consultations with various government institutions on how to develop a home grown school feeding programme as a way of combating hunger in schools.

A statement from WFP yesterday says the process is expected to be modelled around Brazil’s WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger.

The Brazilian delegation to Rwanda is following on the study tour of Rwanda’s inter-ministerial team that travelled to Brazil in April 2012.

“To facilitate this, a modelling workshop is planned in September 2012 to ensure a common understanding of school feeding across ministries and sectors, develop a vision and objectives for a nationally owned school feeding programme, and define the programme model that the Government of Rwanda sees as appropriate to scaling up a nationally owned programme,” the statement states.

“In addition to the educational and nutrition benefits of school feeding, the home grown school feeding can contribute to the agriculture sector development, poverty reduction, and country’s economic development, Abdoulaye Balde, WFP Rwanda Country Director, said.

“The Government of Rwanda has stated its desire to develop a nationally owned home-grown school feeding programme with a high degree of community ownership and gradually reduce its current reliance on external support,” WFP added.

According to WFP, the programme will develop a linkage to the One Cup of

Milk per Child programme, the Girinka project as well as other initiatives aimed at improving children’s nutrition.

Contact email: ivan.mugisha[at]newtimes.co.rw