McGovern-Dole International Food for Education

Description

The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program provides U.S. agricultural commodities, as well as financial and technical assistance, to food-insecure countries to establish school feeding programs. The program helps improve child nutrition, maternal health, and access to quality education, especially for girls

What does it buy?

The program boosts childhood nutrition in vulnerable communities through U.S. agricultural commodities and locally purchased food. It supports improved literacy through support for teachers and libraries, school improvement, and training for faculty and administrators. The program also supports training in health and nutrition practices and increases access to safe water, sanitation services, and improved sanitary facilities.

Why is it important?

• Since 2003, these funds have provided school meals to over 40 million children in 40 of the world’s poorest countries, several of which are in near-famine conditions. In FY 2017, McGovern-Dole reached over 4.5 million direct beneficiaries. With food insecurity on the rise, these funds are more critical than ever.
• Nutritious meals incentivize school attendance. In communities suffering from chronic hunger, McGovernDole lunches are a powerful incentive for parents to send their children to classes regularly since these lunches are often the only meal these children receive each day. Almost 100% of students receiving McGovern Dole lunches in a Burkina Faso program attended class regularly.
• McGovern-Dole programs bring girls into classrooms, and schools participating in the programs have decreased gender disparities.
• A 2016 USDA evaluation found that McGovern-Dole increased school enrollment in Ethiopia’s Somali state from 64% to 100% and in the Afar state from 35% to 60%.

Why should Americans care?

• McGovern-Dole supports American farmers and shippers. Projects funded in FY 2016 purchased 64,650 metric tons of U.S. commodities from 14 different states and transported 60% of all McGovern-Dole procured cargoes on U.S.-flag vessels from nine U.S. seaports.
• McGovern-Dole prevents children and youth from falling under the control of groups like al-Shabaab in Somalia or Boko Haram in Nigeria, which promise access to food. Preventing youth radicalization leads to increased stability in regions of the world that are important to U.S. strategic interests and national security.

What more could be done?

• The World Food Program calculates that $3.2 billion is needed per year to reach all 66 million primary school-age children that go to school hungry every day. Additional investment would help reach more of these children.
• Additional investment could allow McGovern-Dole programs to support more communities and families in times of drought or shock, when school feeding programs often act as the first line of defense against hunger. A 2013 World Food Program survey of 77 countries found that 33 countries scaled up their school meals programs to address food security shocks.
• The 2018 Farm Bill authorized up to 10% of McGovern-Dole funds to be used to purchase food in the country or region where it will be distributed. With additional investment, McGovern-Dole programs could further incorporate more locally-grown food through the USDA’s Local and Regional Food Aid Procurement (LRP) program. LRP combats malnutrition while stimulating the local economy and creating incentives for the host government to sustain the program.