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Food keeps children in school, says a new report
School meals and other food-based safety nets are vital to keeping children in school, improving their learning and health, and promoting food security, as governments grapple with the global economic crisis.
Children enjoying a school meal
That's according to a new study published by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Bank.
The report stresses that in many countries school feeding programmes are one of the key incentives to get children, especially girls and the poorest and most vulnerable children, into school.
Providing school meals to children in qualifying families can be the equivalent of adding an extra 10 percent to average household incomes.
In a recent analysis of WFP data from 32 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that grouped 4,000 primary schools, girls' enrollments went up by 28 percent, twice the rate in schools not receiving assistance.
When programmes combined on-site school meals and take-home rations for a student's family, girls' enrollment in the highest primary grade surged by 46 percent.
That is twice the yearly rate for girls in schools offering only on-site meals.
Diane Bailey, United Nations Radio
(duration: 1'13")
