It’s 10 o’clock on a Tuesday morning at the Médina 3 school, located on the outskirts of Bamako, the capital of Mali. A group of women is hard at work in the school kitchens preparing lunch for the school’s 1,000 students.

This ritual is the same in all schools benefiting from the school meals program implemented within the scope of the Mali Improving Education Quality and Results for All Project (MIQRA), a $140.7 million program funded by GPE ($45.7 million) and partners.

For several years now, Mali has been in the grips of a security crisis, which has severely compromised access to education and school participation for thousands of children in some regions of the country, particularly in the North.

In that area, the education sector is particularly impacted by interruptions of education and the resulting low learning outcomes.

“The multifaceted crisis (security, institutional) that has beset Mali since the early 2010s has had damaging effects on the education sector”, explains Ismaila Berthe, GPE focal point at the Ministry of Education of Mali. “Faced with the risk of school dropouts among vulnerable populations, the education system has a duty to provide solutions, through learning continuity, distribution of meals and learning kits, remedial classes, support for volunteer teachers, etc.”, he continues.

This is what justified the implementation of MIQRA, in collaboration with the World Bank (grant agent for the GPE grant), UNICEF (coordinating agency), USAID and the Ministry of Education. The program aims to improve learning outcomes, promote girls’ access to secondary education in underserved areas, and improve the governance of the education system.

Providing meals as an incentive to encourage school enrollment

The women’s dedication to cooking meals at the Médina 3 school highlights the crucial role of nutrition in school participation and student retention.

“School nutrition is a factor that has a positive impact on school participation and children’s retention,” explains M. Berthe. A statement corroborated by Mamoutou Coulibaly, Education Program Management Specialist at USAID in Mali: “MIQRA’s school nutrition program helps keep children in school to attend reading and math classes.”

This is why MIQRA supported the creation of school canteens to encourage school participation, support learning continuity and improve student retention.

The program planned for creating school canteens to provide 84,000 meals a year to approximately 10,000 primary and lower secondary students, including in 150 schools located in unsafe areas and supported by GPE financing, and 70 schools in areas affected by food insecurity (including the Médine 3 school), which receive financing from IDA (World Bank).

GPE financing helped facilitate the provision of food supplies to existing school canteens located in vulnerable areas and attended by 45,000 students a year; the supply of kitchen equipment to 150 school canteens; school health and sanitation training for 3,000 members of school management committees and school principals.

Participating schools were selected based on a specific set of criteria such as their location in highly vulnerable areas, the presence of refugees or the significance of their humanitarian needs.

Involving communities in program implementation

Involving local communities in areas where schools are located—through school management committees—to which the National Center of School Canteens (NCSC) entrusted the program’s management at school level—was decisive in the successful implementation of the program.

Participating schools received funds from the ministry of education—through the NCSC—corresponding to the agreed allowance per child. The funds were then transferred to the school management committees, who were responsible for purchasing food supplies and managing the canteens (supplying food products, meal preparation and service to students). The ministry of education, via the NCSC, also provided kitchen equipment.

At the primary education level, 230 school management committees were mobilized in the 102 participating municipalities to deploy state resources for the improvement of services.

Involving local communities has strengthened the sense of community ownership, especially since members of the school management committees are usually parents of students benefiting from the program.

An increase in school enrollments

While meeting a critical need, the program also resulted in a significant increase in school enrollments.

The previous school year, for example, the Médine 3 school alone welcomed 300 new students, thanks to the implementation of the school nutrition program.

This increase demonstrates the essential role such programs play in drawing and retaining students in schools and improving access to education in vulnerable communities.

An effective partnership approach

The close collaboration between implementation partners has played a great part in the program’s success, especially since the program is based on a complementary approach to actions carried out by the partners, such as USAID, as highlighted by Mamoutou Coulibaly, Education Program Management Specialist at USAID in Mali: “The school nutrition program complements the USAID’s interventions, by enabling students to regularly attend school.”

“Technical and financial partners also implement school nutrition programs through school cafeterias which play a vital role in keeping children in school and improving their performance.” adds Pierre Ngom, UNICEF Representative in Mali.

Furthermore, monitoring missions involving staff from the ministry of education and local authorities were regularly carried out in secure regions of the country to assess the effectiveness of transfers to the school management committees and evaluate school cafeteria operations.

In areas where travel was restricted or suspended, program monitoring was made possible through close collaboration with local communities and NGOs from the Education in Emergencies cluster.

Overcoming challenges of program implementation

The implementation of the program faced several challenges, whether security-related, logistical or in terms of human resources.

At the Médine 3 school for example, members of the school management committee expressed their concerns regarding the allocated budget. As the number of enrolled students has grown steadily since the start of the program, it is sometimes difficult to adequately serve all the children.

This is compounded by food supply challenges in certain areas (stock shortages at local suppliers, for example), as well as security risks, which restrict travel and impact food deliveries in other areas.

Lessons and outlook for the future

During our last visit at the Médine 3 school, we heard a particularly moving testimony from a mother who travels more than four kilometers every day to make sure her enrolled children can eat, while her other children, who are not enrolled, must fend for themselves.

This story not only clearly illustrates the resilience and determination of members of the community, but also demonstrates the impact the program has on their daily lives.

This school nutrition program reminds us of the importance of ensuring continuity of education during crises. Because in times of crisis, schools not only ensure children continue to learn, they also provide them with a sense of normalcy which promotes resilience, inclusion and tolerance, while supporting the long-term process of peacemaking and peacebuilding.