A PROJECT IN MOZAMBIQUE UNDER THE MCGOVERN-DOLE INTERNATIONAL FOOD FOR EDUCATION AND CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM
Despite steady economic growth and notable progress in education and health since the end of the Mozambican civil war in 1992, Mozambique still ranks among the least developed countries in the world. Today 54 percent of Mozambicans still live below the poverty line. This poverty manifests itself in terms of hunger, malnutrition, and low levels of schooling. It is estimated that up to 43 percent of Mozambican children suffer from chronic malnutrition, and only 49 percent of school-aged children complete primary school. Malnutrition damages a child’s development and affects the immune system, leading to greater susceptibility to infectious diseases
such as pneumonia, malaria, and HIV. Delays in growth and in motor and cognitive development may also occur and can become irreversible. The effects of malnutrition include memory and attention deficiency, learning disabilities, and reduced language development and problemsolving skills. These effects then contribute to low school attendance, poor academic performance, and high dropout rates. Planet Aid’s Food for Knowledge (FFK) Project, launched in 2012 in Mozambique, addresses a multiplicity of factors to create momentum in the Mozambican educational sector to improve learning outcomes as well as achieve program ownership. The project is implemented in cooperation with ADPP Mozambique, the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health, Cambridge Education, and the Government of Mozambique. Since June 2013, Planet Aid has shipped and served over 55 million meals of fortified cornsoy blend (CSB+) provided by American farmers to 86,000 primary school children in Maputo Province. The meals have served to directly raise lagging school attendance rates at participating schools by providing a tangible incentive for children to attend class.
With more children attending school more regularly, the program is focusing on removing barriers hindering the acquisition of basic skills, specifically reading, and to improve the quality of education in the classroom. Working in close cooperation with the Mozambique Ministry of Education and Human Development and Planet Aid’s partners, ADPP Mozambique and Cambridge Education, the Planet Aid program has developed and is delivering a flagship early-grade reading intervention that is improving literacy levels of primary school children. Finally, the program is providing certified training of primary school teachers nationwide through ADPP Mozambique’s network of colleges, with substantial cost-share contributions from the Government of Mozambique, to improve the quality of classroom teaching. In addition to the core curriculum, the teachers being trained also receive instruction in how to deliver lessons in nutrition and hygiene.
FOOD FOR KNOWLEDGE ACHIEVEMENTS Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of
Children Fed School Gardens Established, Further Developed, and Maintained “Home Grown” School Gardens Established After-School Literacy Clubs Formed Textbooks and Learning Materials Provided Schools Using Improved Water Sources Teachers Graduated Grade 1-3 Teachers Trained in Improved Literacy Practices Supplementary Literacy Materials Distributed to Schools
86,081 60 4 802 68,629 271 12,110 1,204 163,112
Program areas in Mozambique