School Feeding Programs in Conflict and Complex Emergencies. The Case of Haiti.

• In Event: Intersectoral Approaches to Education in Humanitarian Crises and Emergencies (II)

Proposal

Haiti’s economic and social development continues to be severely hindered by political instability and unprecedented levels of armed group violence, and further aggravated by the country’s high vulnerability to climate change. In that context, humanitarian needs have reached unprecedented levels since the 2010 earthquake. According to the latest Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) analysis (March 2023-June 2023), half of the national population is facing acute levels of food insecurity - IPC 3 or above (4.9 million), including 1.8 million Haitians in an emergency (IPC 4).
Soaring inflation and skyrocketing prices continue to compound the misery for Haitians. Many are unable to afford a basic meal, with a majority forced to cut back on their daily intake. Price rises have become a flashpoint in Haiti, with annual inflation at 48%.
The prolonged atypical droughts in recent years, combined with the increased control of armed groups of agricultural areas considered as the country’s breadbasket and heavy rainfalls during the 2022 hurricane season, have severely impacted the country’s agricultural production and the livelihoods of those depending on it.
With the complex crisis, the nutritional status of already vulnerable populations continues to deteriorate. According to the 2023 SMART survey, the prevalence of combined global acute malnutrition for children under five years rose from 6.8% baseline in 2020 to 7.2% in 2023.
Girls and boys in Haiti are directly affected by this context of constant socio-economic and political instability, and implementing successful complex school feeding interventions in this complex environment requires teams to be innovative and seize windows of little opportunities, thus the link to the group Education, conflict, and emergencies SIG.

In view of this context, the World Food Programme in Haiti implemented a McGovern Dole-funded school feeding project in Haiti’s Nord, Nord-Est and Grande-Anse departments. Over 118,000 pupils in 451 schools received school meals over three school years between September 2020 and June 2023. Over this period, the country went through a global pandemic, two earthquakes, the assassination of its president (July 2021), and violent civil unrest blocking the country and provoking high inflation. This volatility has been a challenge for the programme implementation and required innovative approaches to allow delivering the planned school meals including through take-home rations.
WFP and USDA prioritised school feeding activities to respond to the immediate food needs of the population rather than implementing the holistic package approach proposed by the McGovern-Dole programme. As a result, literacy activities were limited to fifty schools in Grand-Anse; thirty of which also received improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure.

WFP commissioned an independent final evaluation of the McGovern-Dole-funded school feeding project. This evaluation consisted of a baseline (2020) and an endline exercise carried out between December 2022 and June 2023. The evaluation was undertaken by an independent evaluation team.
The final evaluation assessed the progress and long-term effects of the programme from its start in 2020 to the end in 2023. It was directly connected with the baseline exercise using the McGovern-Dole result frameworks and performance indicators as the basic pillars for performance measurement. As such, the approach and methodology of the final evaluation were as similar as possible to the baseline to enable comparison of results for the duration of the programme. The methodology was framed with the objective of informing the evaluation questions organised around the OECD-DAC criteria of Coverage and Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability. Three questions from USDA’s learning agenda on school meals programme implementation, agriculture evidence gaps and government investment are also answered.
The evaluation used a mixed-method approach relying on quantitative and qualitative data. A review of past activities, national policies and other documentation related to school feeding allowed for a global understanding of the context of school feeding in Haiti. The quantitative component of the evaluation included a survey with a total of 1,340 structured interviews in 107 schools using 5 different questionnaires with 1) school directors, 2) teachers, 3) pupils, 4) cooks and 5) school feeding management committee (SFMC) members. The qualitative assessment included over 68 key informant interviews and 24 focus group discussions with pupils, parents, school staff, Implementing Partners, UN agencies, donors, national institutions, and WFP staff.


Key findings and lessons learnt that should be considered for further McGovern-Dole implementation, or for other interventions in similar contexts:
The unpredictability of social unrest in the current Haitian context implies a risk of long-term school closures, often coming with strategic road blockages paralysing the country. Under these circumstances, it is important to put in place logistical arrangements that allow uninterrupted food provision and compensation for long periods of closures through take-home rations.
To enhance the programme's sustainability, there is a need to further increase the programme ownership by the School Feeding Management Committees. To do so, a more in-depth understanding of the school and community dynamics is required.

Here’s what you’ll learn from this presentation; despite natural disasters, political instability and economic crisis, the Haitian Government remains committed to delivering on its vision of social development aimed at achieving better social indicators, promoting human capital development, and improving food security. In the face of socio-political turmoil, the Ministry of Education, both at the central and local levels, has strengthened its collaboration with WFP.
In November 2022, WFP worked closely with the Ministry of Education to support the progressive reopening of schools.

Participants will find this presentation interesting because they will learn what were the key strategic decisions that were taken and actions that were undertaken to make this happen in a complex environment. You’ll also learn the key take lessons that are the stronghold for the next five years of transition to a hundred percent homegrown school feeding approach.

Author

• METHODE Cyrille MULAMIRA, United Nations World Food Programme