Lunch and Lessons—Putting Girls in School in Mali

Without the School Feeding Program, 11-year-old Mariam Walet Mohamed might already be married. Her parents are very poor and find it difficult to feed their 10 children. However, Mariam's parents have allowed her to continue going to school in Kidal, Mali, because she gets a full meal there every day.

The School Feeding Program of the World Food Programme (WFP) follows a very simple formula: it gets hungry children to come to school by offering something to eat. Pupils with empty stomachs lack energy and motivation to learn; but offer them a good meal, and they immediately become more alert and do better in school.

The WFP formula has proven itself for more than forty years. Once a school offers a free lunch, pupils attend school more often and stay in school longer. Studies clearly show that school feeding increases success rates. It also encourages primary-school enrolment and completion.


In Mali, WFP meals consist of locally procured millet and legumes, as well as imported vegetable oil. Parents provide stoves, firewood, and condiments.

Sending girls to school is a luxury for poor families, as this deprives the family of manual labour. The WFP has developed an innovative approach to bridge the gender gap in school enrolment: it offers dry rations to take home, encouraging parents to enrol girls in school instead of putting them to work. If a girl attends school for 80 percent of the school year, her family will get eight litres of oil every three months. "This encourages parents to send their daughters to school," explains Fatimata Sow, section manager of the WFP's Mali program.

Established in Mali in 1999, the School Feeding Program has achieved significant results: in 2009 it reached 142,781 children at 721 schools. Enrolment and retention rates have substantially increased. Twenty-five percent more girls are enrolled in school. In a country where educating girls was long considered a waste of time and money, this increase is tangible proof that people are changing their way of thinking.

In 2009 alone, Canada contributed to the success of the WFP's school feeding program in seven African countries, helping more than 1.5 million children to access education, eat, and do well in school:

Number of children receiving meals in 2009:

	Girls	Boys	Girls Receiving Take Home Rations	Total Per Country
Ethiopia	261,541	220,250	77,947	559,738
Ghana	54,555	78,819	27,506	160,880
Mali	67,108	61,749	13,924	142,781
Mozambique	99,889	88,876		188,765
Niger	76,359	49,623	10,100	136,082
Senegal	96,385	89,851		186,236
Tanzania	109,017	104,735		213,752
Total	764,854	693,903	129,477	1,588,234