With the aim of advancing the macro and micro-nutrient content of the food consumed in school and offer a more robust snack, WFP and MEHE agreed to launching a new school meals modality using the healthy school kitchens model, currently implemented in twelve (12) schools across eight governorates.
With the kitchens, a cold sandwich (local cheese or chickpea hummus spread on local pita bread and a serving of fresh fruit or vegetable) is provided to students. This option provides approximately 400 calories to children (an increase of 60 percent kcal compared to the regular snack options) and ensures access to almost all macro and micronutrients from carbohydrates, healthy fats, protein, vitamins and minerals.
Local procurement stimulates employment opportunities for women and men smallholder farmers or jobs in the school kitchens for children’s caregivers and improves the livelihoods of the communities near the schools. Around 100 women caregivers are currently leading the meals preparations inside the kitchens. They receive capacity building on food safety and kitchen management skills.
Healthy School Kitchens – Satellite model
To optimize the production of the healthy school kitchen model, WFP, in coordination with MEHE, assessed six existing school kitchens previously established by WFP to determine their eligibility to expand and absorb larger production, linking them to neighboring schools. Three schools were selected to operate as satellite healthy kitchens catering for nearby schools. The kitchens were upgraded during the mid-term school break in 2022 with additional kitchen equipment and solar systems. This ensured the availability of electricity 24/7, allowing for longer hours of cold storage of the meals’ raw ingredients and a larger production capacity. The three satellite healthy kitchens are currently linked to eight nearby schools and accordingly increased the coverage to additional 4,000 students.
Linkages with nearby retailers and agri-food business
In May 2023, a decentralized procurement of raw ingredients was also piloted in two kitchens by directly linking them to WFP-supported retail chains and executing payments at schools using a debit card. This model proved to be more cost-efficient compared to central procurement and would be more feasible to be adopted by schools for sustainability over the long-term. Accordingly, during the academic year 2023-2024, WFP created additional direct local linkages under a Farm to School Model, linking six WFP-contracted retailers and one agri-food business to the nine school kitchens.
To maximize the impact of the programme on the local food system and local economy and building on the success of linking healthy school kitchens with nearby retailers and agri-food business, WFP plans to link the healthy school kitchens to source cold meal ingredients from small to medium-sized enterprises that produce dairy products and prioritize linkage to women-led businesses at the local level.