Improving School Canteens and Literacy through the USDA McGovern Dole Program in Burkina Faso, and Intersection with National Priorities

• In Event: Improving Literacy and Nutrition in West Africa with School Feeding Programs

Proposal

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for four phases of the Beoog Biiga (BB) project in Burkina Faso as part of the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. CRS Burkina Faso has implemented the Beoog Biiga program in Burkina Faso in coordination with the Ministry of National Education, Literacy and the Promotion of National Languages (MENAPLN), Ministry of Health, and Organization Catholique pour le Developpement et la Solidarite (OCADES) Kaya, since 2011. CRS is starting the fourth phase (BB4), directly following BB3, BB2, and BB1, implemented in the provinces of Namentenga, Bam, and Sanmatenga, which will cover 872 schools and preschools with 347,120 direct beneficiaries through 4-year implementation.

Beoog Biiga is one of many school feeding projects CRS has implemented in Burkina Faso since its establishment as the first international NGO in Burkina Faso in 1960. Since starting these projects in Burkina Faso, CRS has been gradually transferring the school feeding program to MENAPLN. The Government of Burkina Faso now implements its own school feeding program across the country with contributions from local communities.

CRS will present the context of the project, the status of program activities implementation, how the program is evolved throughout the implementation of the four phases, and the current sustainability strategy. CRS will discuss the commitment of the Government of Burkina Faso and communities to the school canteens and the impact of the program on literacy and food security. CRS will discuss the main challenges and lessons learned. CRS will also discuss how to continue and adapt program activities given political unrest, conflicts, and internally displaced students.

We have invited a representative of the Burkina Faso Ministry of National Education, Literacy and the Promotion of National Languages (MENAPLN) to join the panel to discuss the country context regarding literacy approaches, teacher training, national priorities, and school feeding. The representative will highlight the Ministry’s educational development goals and literacy curriculum. The Ministry representative will also discuss the school canteen component of the program and national role for providing food commodities. The representative will discuss collaboration between MENAPLN and the McGovern Dole Program to improve literacy and school feeding in Burkina Faso and how to foster sustainability moving forward.

Authors

• Fenot Kanazoe, Catholic Relief Services

• Issa ZERBO, Catholic Relief Services