FAO fears as school meals end

School feeding programmes in the Caribbean could be weakened by the coronavirus pandemic, raising fears about child nutrition, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

With the closure of schools in light of the spread of the viral infection, the suspension of the feeding programmes, the United Nations agency on food security and nutrition expressed concerns about a likely loss of an important food source for children.

The Government is expected to provide an update on how children who rely on the schools meal programme are to be assisted in the light of yesterday’s cancellation of the rest of the school term.

While thousands of children locally depend on the programme, it is said to benefit some 85 million children across the Caribbean and Latin America.

“For about 10 million, they constitute one of the most reliable daily sources of food,” the FAO said.

It said the suspension of school feeding programmes “will pose a challenge to the food security and nutritional status of many children, especially those from most vulnerable groups”.

FAO’s Regional Representative Julio Berdegué said: “Ensuring sufficient, diverse and nutritious food contributes to strengthening people’s immune system and increases their capacities to cope with diseases.”

FAO called on governments to implement measures to support children whose families have greater difficulties in accessing food, and to provide the nutritional contributions that are usually guaranteed by school feeding programmes.

The UN agency pointed out that for any action taken by governments, all measures recommended by national and international health authorities should be taken into consideration to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Berdegué said: “Social protection systems, for example, can play a key role in guaranteeing the food security of the most vulnerable population in the coming weeks.

“Recommendations to minimize the impact of the closure of school feeding programmes on food security and nutrition should be decided by each country, taking precautions to avoid transmission of the virus.”

The FAO listed a range of possible measures: food distribution to the most vulnerable families, establishing delivery times in schools, or through mobile units; increase in the economic allocation of social protection programs (such as income transfers) by an amount corresponding to the cost of food rations delivered by school feeding programmes; delivery of emergency essential food rations to the most vulnerable communities and territories in coordination with authorized government agencies or international cooperation; and exemption from taxes on basic food for families with school-age children, especially for workers in the most affected economic sectors.

It said other measures could include promotion of at home fresh food delivery, if possible from local agriculture; redistribution of food from school feeding programs through donations to entities responsible for providing food assistance (such as food banks, social organizations, non-governmental organizations, churches) during the emergency response phase, under the strict monitoring of security protocols to prevent the spread of the virus; and use of digital tool (georeferenced applications) to improve communication regarding access points for food deliveries, distribution times, and recommendations for the proper use of food, and measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19.

FAO added: The establishment of food and nutrition roundtables, in which sectors in charge of school food programs should participate, may allow the identification of other groups at high risk of food insecurity, such as older adults who live alone or are isolated due to the current situation, to take timely actions to safeguard their nutrition.

“All these measures need extensive inter-institutional coordination under the leadership of the designated authorities in each country to face this crisis.”