This finding, among others, was revealed at a validation workshop held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Center on Tuesday.
The findings also disclosed that school meals enhance food security and dietary diversity, while improving mental well-being among Gambian children - especially girls.
At the event, Ms. Miranda Sende, WFP Country Director, reminded that the homegrown school feeding has been the cornerstone of WFP efforts in The Gambia in addressing multiple challenges in food insecurity, poor nutrition, low attendance in school and other educational gaps.
“By providing nutritious meals sourced from local farmers, this programme has not only supported the health and well-being of thousands of school children, but has also played a key role in reinforcing local agriculture value chains and creating economic opportunities for Gambian smallholder farmers,” she stated.
“The evaluation findings give us evidence on the programme's impact and guide us on how to refine our approach to make an even greater difference in the lives of the children. We are particularly encouraged by some evaluation findings showing that school meals reduce dropout and increase children's school attendance.”
She maintained that it is also encouraging to see how implementing an accountability system based on teachers' incentives is an effective way to increase teachers' attendance and retention.
However, she added that there are limited improvements in children's literacy test scores during the evaluation period, with some suggestive evidence that combining school meals with teachers' incentives improves performance on very basic reading tasks.
For his part, Bakary Y. Badjie, Minister for Youth and Sports, who was speaking on behalf of the Minister of Higher Education, said the school feeding programs has impacted profoundly on the lives of children, as well as those of their families.
“When we provide our young learners with nutritious meals, we are not only feeding the students, we are also creating a conducive environment for better learning, healthier lives and healthier futures, as well as for stronger communities.”
The school feeding program, he added, is a change-driven and change-oriented amnesty research finding that informed this practice.
“The transformation of the school feeding program has neither been unexpected nor dictated by mere natural tendencies. The impact is that the interventions have made and transformed the school feeding into a nationally driven approach supported and taken ownership by the local level.”
“As government, we reiterate our commitment to working with our development partners, especially the World Food Programme and the UN System in general, to scale up the school feeding program so that it can benefit more and more children in the Gambia.
UN Resident Coordinator, Karl Frederick Paul, underscored that this initiative, which connects local agriculture with school meals, not only addresses hunger but also creates positive ripple effects throughout communities, enhancing children's learning, supporting smallholder farms and farmers and fostering long-term sustainable development.
“The evidence generated through initiatives like the Homegrown School Feeding Programme is vital in helping the government and other stakeholders to tailor sustainable intervention that works for the Gambia's most vulnerable people and for its communities of children. As we move forward, let's be guided by the evidence, let's learn from the challenges and celebrate the successes.”
School meals are one of the most widespread social safety nets in the world – an estimated 418 million children benefit globally. School meals encourage the poorest families to send their children to school. Once in the classroom, school meals ensure children are well-nourished and ready to learn.
Further, this study investigates the effects of school meals on children’s nutrition, health and social cohesion. Findings are set to shape the future of school feeding initiatives in the Gambia and beyond, as school meals play a crucial role in attracting, feeding, and nurturing children while in school.
