Togo: Successful school feeding program benefits 182,028 Students

For the past five years, the Togolese government, in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP), has implemented a school feeding policy aimed at promoting education in rural areas. Executed in the most vulnerable zones, this program seeks to increase the enrollment rate in these communities. In this context, the Togolese government established the «School Canteens» project.

According to Aboubacar Koisha, the director of WFP, this initiative by the Togolese government is considered a benchmark.

Starting with 50 schools initially, the school canteen project exceeded expectations in 2022, reaching more students with a mobilization of resources exceeding 24 billion XOF by the Faure Gnassingbé government and the World Bank.

Between 2021 and 2022, a total of 182,028 students benefited from this program, which is now praised by the representative of WFP in Togo after 60 years of the existence of this UN institution dedicated to global food service.

To celebrate this achievement, WFP aims to further support Togo in reaching a larger number of schools.

In collaboration with WFP, the Togolese government aspires to expand the program to 100 schools across the central, plateau, and maritime regions.

It is worth noting that initially, the program was implemented in the Savannah and Kara regions with 50 schools.

While it facilitated the enrollment of more children in these areas, other positive outcomes were also recorded.

These include the establishment of school gardens, poultry farming units, grain and condiment milling units, and the creation of cooperatives for small-scale producers.

Chantal Tawelessi