Re: [pronut-hiv] Nutrition Programmes - Sustainable School Food & Nutrition Pilot Programme

["Kristof & Stacia Nordin" <nordin@eomw.net>]

I can also send these documents as an attachment for anyone interested - 
We've been running various projects on a Sustainable Food & Nutrition 
Security theme for the past 9 years and are happy to share ideas.
Stacia

Concept Note for the

Sustainable School Food & Nutrition Pilot Programme

1.Background & Justification

Malawi recognizes the benefits of providing primary school students with
nutritious food each school day.  This is evidenced by an increase in School Health and Nutrition (SHN) activities at schools supported by a wide range of partners, the formation of the National SHN Technical Working group, and the inclusion of SHN in the Ministry of Education strategic plan.

The Ministry of Education officially introduced the School Feeding programme in 1999 in order to reduce hunger for primary school children and to increase enrolment, to decrease absenteeism, and to reduce drop-out rates. Currently the school feeding programme only provides service to
approximately 600 out of 5,129 existing primary schools.  Most the
programmes that are running are dependent upon outside resources in order to run the programme.  Although the community contributes to school feeding
with labour, in a 2003 survey of school feeding programmes, 92 percent of
the schools surveyed stated that they would be unable to continue the
feeding programme if the donors pulled out.[1]

Recognizing the importance of nutritious food at school and its contribution to the quality of education, the Ministry of Education and its collaborating partners are aiming to develop a school food and nutrition programme that Malawi is able to implement sustainably for all primary schools.  The programme will:

·Train school committees to design and implement gardens, orchards
and feeding programmes at the school;

·Train teachers to link food and nutrition activities to lessons;
and

·Integrate lessons of hygiene, sanitation, nutrition, health,
gender, HIV, agriculture and the environment.

This concept note outlines the framework of the proposed programme along
with a timeframe and budget for running the pilot programme.   This concept
was developed under the National School Heath and Nutrition Technical
Working Group by a sustainable food and nutrition working group made up of
representatives from the Ministry headquarters, District Education Managers
(DEMs), Primary Education Advisors (PEAs), Teachers, School Committees, and
Development Partners (WFP and GTZ).  The concept was created through
reviewing current School Food and Nutrition programmes locally and
internationally and through visiting local sustainable agriculture and
general sustainable living designs within Malawi.  Each of the sites
provided us with great insight into what the Sustainable School Food and
Nutrition programme for Malawi will look like.

2.Vision:

To have a Sustainable School Food and Nutrition programme in all primary
schools in Malawi.

3.Purpose of the Pilot Programme

The purpose for running a pilot programme in a sample of primary schools is
to:

3.1Test the concepts for feasibility in the Malawian setting and to
make adjustments to the programme based on the pilot.

3.2  Measure the impacts (positive and negative) of the programme at the
school, including on the students, teachers, and community members involved.
Impacts will include factors such as: environmental, health, nutrition, and
educational, differentiating between genders.

4.Pilot Timeframe

The pilot will run for 1.5 years to include all the seasons and will have an additional 1 year of mentoring on a periodic basis.  The pilot and the
future long term programme will phase in and progress steadily to achieve
sustainability.  The change from the present programme to a sustainable one
will take some time.

5. Beneficiaries

The whole school community has the potential to benefit:

²The students are the main beneficiaries of this programme for both
eating and learning.

²The teachers will benefit by having increased opportunities at the
school for practical session planning and will also be part of the eating.

²The community will benefit by being involved themselves in the
programme and/or having their students being involved in the programme and
learn from their children.  Eventually the schools can become training
grounds for others to come and learn.

²Malawi will benefit by having an improved learning environment for
children.



6. Implementers

In order for the National programme to be accepted and sustained, each level has a voice in developing the programme and they will play a role in
continually assessing the programme in order to make changes as needed.  The roles and responsibilities of all the implementers and support staff are outlined in the School Feeding Guidelines (drafted May 2006).  Teachers, students and community members are the primary implementers of this programme.

²The school committees will lead the implementation.

²Teachers will implement through their curriculum lessons and other
school activities.

²Students will implement as they will learn by doing - by taking part
in the sustainable school designs, by learning about food preparation and by eating.

²Communities will implement as part of their support for their
children's learning and betterment of their communities.

²Development partners will provide technical advice and guidance
during the development and implementation phase and will assist in providing resources needed for the pilot research and testing.  Development partners do not replace the roles that any of the implementers have in implementing the long-term programme.

-School Facilitators: Each district will be supported by a
Facilitator to train and guide the five schools in that district.
Facilitators will work with the schools for 6 months, with weekly visits at
the beginning of the pilot, then reducing over the life of the pilot.

-Technical Advisors:  These expert advisors will train the
facilitators and then follow up with facilitators to provide additional
mentoring and training.  One technical advisor will cover 2-3 districts.

²Role of the Sustainable Food and Nutrition Working Group
Members -The working group will be mentors and advisors to the pilots that
are running in their district.  They will continue to meet periodically
throughout the pilot and scale up phase to advise on the process.



7.   Funding

·The long term food and nutrition programme will run within the
Ministry of Education budget.

·Development partners will fund activities that are specific to
the running of the pilot.  Commitments are already in place from GTZ to run
the pilot programme.  Other development partners are reviewing their plans
and may also contribute to the process.



8.Programme Concepts



8.1Sustainability Principles

Sustainability is part of two words: (1) "Sustain" means to continue, to
keep going, forever; (2) "Able" means being possible - that the process is
continually renewed.  In the context to this pilot sustainable means that it is possible for the implementers to continue accessing food and providing feeding on their own.  In order for the programme to be sustainable, thec following principles are important:

1.The National Sustainable School "Food and Nutrition" programme is a
participatory development process by MoE and their partners.

2.There is commitment from communities, schools, the Ministry and
Ministry partners.

3.The implementers understand all the concepts and technologies
fully.

4.The approach focuses on what Malawi can do with its own available
resources.

5.The programme is flexible and allows for communities to design
their own implementation programmes according to their local conditions
since every community is unique.

6.Messages are integrated within the school curriculum and are
aligned with other related sector messages when possible (Health, HIV,
Gender, Human Rights, etc.).

8.2  Food to be Grown & Served

· Malawi Six Food Groups:  The foods grown and served reinforce the
message of the Malawi 6 Food Groups[2] and will follow the School Feeding
Guidelines in order to provide students with healthy, varied snacks. The
menu should remain flexible and the implementers and supporters at all
levels should have a basic understanding of the importance of this concept.

·Food Supply:  The aim will be for implementers to create their own
sustainable food supplies.  Implementers will learn to calculate the time
and space required to establish a sustainable, balanced food supply.  During emergencies that result in reduced local food supplies, the Ministry will intervene to source foods as per the school feeding guidelines.



8.3  Sustainable Food Production:

· Link to Curriculum & Activities:  Theory and practicals will be linked
to the curriculum and to daily student tasks at school. For example, current student tasks, such as sweeping the dirt can be converted to more
constructive, productive, fun, educational and sustainable activities such
as composting, mulching, and caring for animals and plants.

·Capitalizing on local resources:  There are often many resources
around the schools and in the communities that are being wasted such as
organic matter, borehole water runoff, roof rainwater runoff, children's
energy, the plant and animal supply, etc.  Examples of capitalizing on these resources include:

²Bare ground will be reduced and converted to productive land (such
as reduced sweeping).

²Using water from borehole runoff, wash water, and water dripping
from dish drying racks.

²Resource 'waste' pits will be converted for growing bananas, coco
yams, pineapples, pigeon pea, and other useful items appropriate to the
conditions.

²Old latrines can be used for growing trees.

²Local resources, seeds, and people will be the focus without outside
input until local resources are used to their fullest potential.

·Designing the school yard:  Implementers will be given guidance and
understanding on deciding what and where plants, trees and animals are
placed and when (seasonal).

²Designs will be beautiful, clean and neat.

²Permaculture proved to have many useful concept and could be a key
focus as it brings together all the ideas well.  Methods such as Guilds,
layering, mulching, integrated pest management, animal integration, water
harvesting/swales, and focus on local knowledge.

²Guidance on yields to include short term and long term harvests in
the right quantities for the number of students/teachers at schools will be
needed.

·Tools and other Inputs:  Locally available tools will be the first
choice for implementation.  All tools will focus on the principles of
environmental health and also human health - tools for children will be
child-friendly to reduce any strain that using the tools can induce.
Synthetic chemicals will not be used - preventative measures will be used
for diseases and pests, and the soil will be fed with locally available
organic materials.

·Eco Sanitation (composting latrines) will be part of improving soil
fertility and sanitation.  The programme will build on the positive
experiences already taking place in Malawi.



8.4  Food Preparation & Serving

·Health & Safety:  Implementers and students will understand kitchen
designs, food preparation and service so that the foods are prepared in a
healthful and safe manner.  Hand washing facilities with plants underneath
to utilize the water and the use of organic matter compost piles for kitchen
scraps and waste water will be used.

·Equipment:  Local resources will be encouraged for preparing and
serving food and will aim to be environmentally friendly.  Sanitation, size, availability and durability will be the key issues to consider on the choice of equipment.  Raw foods will be encouraged as part of the snacks served, such as fruits.  For foods that require cooking, energy efficient stoves will be used.  Implementers will learn the concepts of energy efficiency and learn to build their own stoves and use them.  There may need to be cost sharing between the implementers and private organizations, and/or donors to build the stoves.



9.   Selecting Pilot Sites

·Pilot districts will be in proximity to the members of the working
group Karonga, Nkhata Bay, Lilongwe, Dedza, Zomba, Mulanje, Thyolo and
Nsanje.

·There will be 5 primary schools selected in each of the 8 districts
for a total of 40 schools.

·Schools will be selected with the DEMs and working group based on:

²Active School Committee in place who has the desire to implement the
programme.

²Schools that are within one zone with one TDC as a central venue.

²Some schools that are currently implementing school feeding and
others that are not.

²Schools that are not experiencing crisis (these schools should be
assisted to deal with their immediate crises, then phase into the
sustainable programme).

10.  Monitoring and Evaluation Systems

·Data will go through the MoE chain of command.  The Ministry will
be given assistance in developing or adapting current systems to analyze and utilize the data, including dissemination back through the chain to the
schools.

· Data will be collected on the impact of the programme including on
the students, teachers, and community members involved.  Measurements will
include environmental, health, nutrition, and educational, along with gender differentiation.

·Data for the pilot that is not part of the national programme can
be collected by outside hired staff, such as heights and weights, but will
still go through the MoE system as outlined in the School Feeding
Guidelines.


[1]    Menezes, L. The importance of food aid for education: A study about
the impact of the School Feeding Programme of the Malawi-German Basic
Education Programme in selected pilot schools. April-September 2003. p. 51.

[2]    The six food groups were created in Malawi in 2000 and are a guide to healthy eating.  The six food groups replace the old system of three food groups in order to increase diversity in the diet and in agriculture.

----- "Peter F. Borges" wrote:

Dear Forum Members,

  I am interested in projects on nutrition. I will be obliged if anybody can
share to me programme designs and project proposals if any.


Yours In Solidarity,

  Peter Floriano Borges
  Mobile: +91-9890654483
  Nagpur YMCA
  140, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Nagpur - 440 001
  Maharashtra - INDIA

  Phone: +91-712-2524 834, 2548 789, 2540 024 (Office); Telefax:
+91-712-2548 789