Ghana school feeding program

Improving education with a long-term impact on literacy rates through a program that encourages community engagement in poverty reduction must have a broader systemic impact on society. The study may assist community members in determining the value or otherwise of the program, act as a reference for future comparable studies in other districts, and contribute to the body of knowledge in the subject area. The national secretariat and donor institutions in Accra, the regional secretariat in Tamale, the District Implementation Committee, and the beneficiary communities were among them.

The intended audience included all officials in charge of these institutions, as well as students from beneficiary schools and people of the surrounding community. The research first concentrated on the mechanisms for implementing the GSFP policy from the ministry where it was developed to the operational levels in the recipient community.

It next looked for evidence of the influence of the GSFP on schooling by analyzing schooling data. Finally, an evaluation of how the GSFP implementation has caused changes in poverty levels in the community through the production and sale of commodities for the program was conducted. Beneficiaries of the initiative were disadvantaged communities and schools with low learning metrics. Because each community had only one school, the selection procedure used by the program administrators connected the villages to schools.

Beneficiary communities were formed in areas where beneficiary schools were located. Control schools are the name given to the latter category. The continuous variable, class attendance data, is the dependent variable. This study was limited to the Savelugu-Nanton District in Ghana, therefore, the results of the findings are applicable to this district.

The resaerhcher also faced an unwillingness from the respondents to provide certain information which caused a delay in the completion of the project. An assessment of ghana school feeding programme and its impact on education and poverty reduction case study of savelugunanton district, ghana Home List of Education Project Topics and Materials PDF Download An assessment of ghana school feeding programme and its impact on education and poverty reduction case study of savelugunanton district, ghana.

An assessment of ghana school feeding programme and its impact on education and poverty reduction case study of savelugunanton district, ghana quantity.

Examine how the implementation of the GSFP has influenced poverty reduction in the beneficiary district Make recommendations for the improvement of the programme. How has the implementation of the GSFP influenced poverty reduction through the production and purchase of food stuffs in the beneficiary areas? What strategies may be put forward to improve the programme? Translate PDF. This study seeks to assess the impact of the school feeding programme in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese District in the Central Region of Ghana from the perspective of teachers including head teachers.

A descriptive survey design was used for the study, and data were obtained from eighty teachers and head teachers in the beneficiary schools in the district. The study revealed that the school feeding programme has improved the nutritional status of pupils in the beneficiary schools in the district to some extent; even though it could not improve the body mass index and height of some pupils. Also, the programme has helped to improve the academic performance of some pupils in terms of pass rates, thinking ability, understanding, concentration in class and discipline.

The study further revealed that the programme has helped to improve enrolments, attendance and retention of pupils in the beneficiary schools in the district. However, it has been plagued by several challenges including inadequate basic infrastructural facilities and lack of well trained cooks among others. Generally, the school feeding programme had a positive impact on the lives of the inhabitants of the district.

It is recommended that adequate basic infrastructural facilities in the beneficiary schools in the district should be provided. Many of these are children, and a vast majority of them are in developing countries. These numbers suggest that the Millennium Development Goals related to hunger and malnutrition may not be met by FAO, The persistence of hunger, malnutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies can have long lasting effects on the health status and productivity of people and their nations.

Early malnutrition can adversely affect physical, mental, and social aspects of child health, which in turn leads to underweight, stunted growth, lowered immunity, and mortality. The sub goal formulated hereby is: by the year the proportion of people who suffer from hunger is halved as compared to UN, Ultimately, the programme is expected to impact on the Millennium Development Goals MDGs 2 and 3, which respectively include the achievement of universal primary education, and the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment.

The basic concept of the programme is to provide children in public primary schools and kindergartens in the poorest areas of the country with one hot, nutritious meal per day, using locally-grown foodstuffs. Also, a review of school feeding programs throughout the world shows goals of increasing school enrolment, decreasing truancy, improving educational outcomes and for helping to relieve short term and long term hunger as well as nutritional deficiencies Greenhalgh et al.

In line with this, several studies were conducted nationwide to evaluate the impact of this ongoing programme. However, few of these studies were conducted in the Central Region in Ghana, specifically the Abura Asebu Kwamankese District which is one of the implementation districts in the region.

Therefore, this study seeks to augment the inadequate literature on the impact of School Feeding Programme in the region and the nation as well. Furthermore, there are often several unforeseen consequences of school feeding programmes that necessitate continual evaluation of ongoing programmes.

It is against these backdrops that the study seeks to assess the school feeding programme in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese District in the Central Region. Literature review One of the first papers that reviewed the impact of feeding children in school on education outcomes appeared in Pollitt et al. The authors looked at the U.

The authors concluded that provision of breakfast seemed to benefit students emotionally and enhance their performance on school-type tasks but no conclusion could be drawn upon the long-term effects.

Pollit reviewed several studies conducted in Chile, United Kingdom and the United States from to The author concluded that brain function is sensitive to short-term variations in the availability of nutrient supplies. Such indication is particularly strong for undernourished children. For these children, omitting breakfast alters brain function, particularly in the speed and accuracy of information retrieval in working memory.

This evidence has strong implications for the developing world where a large percentage of school children are nutritionally at-risk. Three rigorous studies conducted in Jamaica that investigated the impact of school feeding programmes on cognitive functions and learning outcomes provide evidence of the beneficial impact of school feeding on cognitive outcomes.

First, Powell and Grantham-McGregor examine children aged 12 to 13 years who were enrolled in three classes in a poor rural area school. The impact evaluation included: school achievement, attendance, and weight gain. School achievement was measured using tests that included arithmetic, spelling and reading. Children were followed over two semesters. After the first semester, the treatment group showed improved school attendance and arithmetic scores compared to the control classes, but no difference in weight gain.

After controlling for school attendance, academic improvement remained significant showing some evidence that reducing hunger during school hours could affect learning in arithmetic. Second, Simeon and Grantham-McGregor examine the effect of breakfast on cognitive functions among 90 children aged years with different nutritional status.

The study examined the effects of omitting breakfast on the cognitive functions of three groups of children: stunted, non-stunted control, and previously severely malnourished. Using a crossover design, the investigators tested each child on two mornings one week apart where the first week the child had received breakfast and the second had not.

Fluency and digit span tests were conducted and results showed that there was a detrimental effect of missing breakfast. Results also indicated that cognitive functions were more vulnerable in poorly nourished children. Third, Chandler et al. The experiment took place in four primary schools in rural Jamaica. Children were randomly assigned to a group provided with breakfast or a quarter of an orange as a placebo. Researchers then administered four cognitive tests visual search, digit span, verbal fluency and speed-of-information- processing tests.

After a few weeks the treatments were reversed and the tests repeated. Adequately nourished children did not experience any significant improvement.

However, results from a study in Chile did not find omission of school breakfast to be detrimental to cognitive performance Lopez, Furthermore, a study conducted in Malawi by World Food Programme showed that a small, pilot, school feeding programme over a three-month period led to a 5 percent increase in enrolment and up to 36 percent improvement in attendance WFP, However, in a study conducted in Kenya, the investigators did not find a difference in the attendance rates between schools with and without the school feeding program Meme et al.

School feeding programmes are likely to improve the nutrient intake of participating children. As such, a study in Huaraz, Peru shows that for children who received breakfast at schools, dietary intake of energy increased by 2 percent, protein by 28 percent, and iron by 4 percent compared to the control group Jacoby et al. An evaluation of a school feeding program in Jamaica assessed the dietary impact of school breakfast consisting of a bun and half pint of milk.

Results show that the program provided 32 percent and 45 percent of daily energy and protein requirements, respectively Chambers, In Brazil, a study of a large school lunch programme examined the impact of the programme on consumption of calories and protein by school children in Sao Paulo. Participation in the programme was associated with an increased availability of calories and 8. However, several studies show that food alone does not guarantee improved nutritional status.

Further, in developing countries, poor health status of children is exacerbated by poor and inadequate health facilities and services, immunization, safe water and sanitation, and health education programmes. For example, a randomised, controlled trial of giving breakfast to undernourished versus adequately nourished children studied in Jamaica showed positive results: compared to the control group, both height and weight improved significantly in the breakfast group Powell, In most developing countries, academic achievement is disappointing, especially at the primary education level.

It is then likely that giving children a daily breakfast or a meal at school may improve their scholastic achievement through several mechanisms: increasing the time spent in school, improving certain cognitive functions and attention to tasks and, perhaps indirectly, improving nutritional status Grantham-McGregor et al.

Besides studies based on experimental design, some studies have examined school feeding programs directly to determine the impact on academic performance. In Benin, children in schools with canteens scored 5 points higher on second-grade tests than did children in schools without canteens WFP, A cross sectional survey design was adopted for the study.

Data for the study were obtained from primary source. The primary data were procured from the fieldwork by the researchers through the use of a three-point Likert scale questionnaire.

Convenient sampling technique was used to select five primary schools that have been enrolled on the School Feeding Programme for at least one year. Further, 16 teachers and head teachers were purposively selected from each of the five schools. In all, a total sample size of 80 teachers including head teachers were selected for the study. The objectives of the school feeding program in Ghana are based on conceptual framework.

Firstly, the ultimate objective is to improve food security for poor rural households and communities. By feeding school aged children who are malnourished or who have limited access to food with foodstuffs that are locally prepared, more money will be spent on food that is sourced from the local area. This will increase the output of local farms, which will help to generate more wealth at both the rural household and community levels.

Secondly, as income are improves, poor rural households will be able to afford the additional food that is needed for their household members in order to ensure that the nutritional needs of all are met. This program not only addresses the rampant short term hunger problems that affect the people of this area, but also improves the overall economy.

The school feeding program in Ghana also helps to promote participation in the community. The schools rely on the community to organize and implement the feeding program, which increases contact and communication between community members. For example, parents and teachers, as well as school and government officials are in better communication with one another, which directly improves the quality of education children receives. Since the school feeding program in Ghana was implemented, several studies have been conducted to assess its effectiveness.

Moreover, attendance rates have increased and the number of drop outs has decreased. Moreover, it has also been found that children who are poorly nourished are showing cognitive benefits as a result of the school feeding program in Ghana. Several studies have found that there has been a notable increase in the test results of students who are receiving food through the school feeding program.