Literacy & school feeding in Liberia and Tanzania

• In Event: Harnessing the transformational power of literacy: Using research to build more effective literacy interventions in school feeding programs

Proposal

Primary education is free and compulsory in Liberia and Tanzania however only 61% and 69% of students complete primary school, respectively (USAID, 2023). Food insecurity and malnutrition are also widespread – 38 percent of Liberians are severely food insecure (GAFS, 2023) and 30% of children are stunted due to malnutrition (USAID, 2023). Meanwhile, in Tanzania 26% (GAFS, 2023) of the population faces severe food insecurity and 34% of children are stunted (USAID, 2023).

To address low primary school achievement and high food insecurity in Liberia and Tanzania, USAID funded the Liberia Empowerment through Attendance, Reading, and Nutrition (LEARN) and Pamoja Tuwalishe Food for Education (FFE) projects. LEARN – now in its second phase – has been implemented by Save the Children since 2018 while FFE, which is in its fourth phase, has been implemented by Global Communities (formerly Project Concern International) since 2010. Both interventions are designed to improve the literacy of school-age children by enhancing the quality of instruction and increasing student attentiveness and attendance; and increasing the use of health and dietary practices by enhancing knowledge of health and hygiene best practices, upgrading sanitation facilities, and improving food safety and storage systems.

AIR was contracted by each implementor to conduct an independent evaluation of their programs including providing findings based on quantitative and qualitative data and recommendations to improve implementation. Both evaluations include collecting primary data from a number of key stakeholders including students, teachers, parents, government officials, and project implementers, among others.

The LEARN evaluation also includes an impact evaluation which will estimate the combined effect of the local regional procurement of commodities (LRP) and school garden produce (SG) on children’s dietary diversity as the primary outcome. The randomized control trial (RCT) will also examine the impact of LRP + SG on secondary outcomes including health, nutrition, and literacy outcomes and cost-effectiveness, perceived cultural appropriateness, and timeliness of food assistance.

The presentation will present findings from the baseline evaluation of LEARN II and FFE IV along with some preliminary results from the LEARN II midterm evaluation including the RCT. The baseline findings in both countries show low literacy rates (4% in Liberia and 4% in Tanzania) at the beginning of implementation. However, digging deeper into the literacy numbers revealed some notable findings including that in Tanzania, literacy rates were significantly higher for students who ate a meal the day of the assessment and were even higher when the meal they ate was a school-provided meal. In both countries, we found – despite very low reading speeds (fluency) - relatively high reading comprehension among those who could complete a reading passage. This points to some evidence that fluency should be deemphasized as a measure of student literacy since it does not appear to be determinative of whether a student can read with understanding. In addition to these literacy findings, our presentation will explore key findings around students’ food security and nutrition, health, and hygiene.

Authors

• Vanessa Hoffman, AIR

• Daniel Zaas, American Institutes for Research