Within the framework of the 2nd School Meals Coalition Global Summit, held in Fortaleza on 18 and 19 September, Brazil and the Republic of Congo held a meeting to present results and discuss the continuity of the Seeds for Tomorrow project.
During the event, four technical manuals were distributed to support school feeding and family farming in the African country. The publications share Brazil’s experience in the field, are available online in both Portuguese and French.
The Seeds for Tomorrow project is the result of a multilateral cooperation between the Government of Brazil, Government of the Republic of Congo, World Food Programme (WFP) in Republic of Congo, World Food Programme (WFP) Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC). The initiative is funded by the IBSA Fund (India, Brazil and South Africa).
In her opening remarks, the Director General for Basic Education of the Ministry of Preschool, Primary, Secondary Education and Literacy of the Republic of Congo, Dr. Pitchou Prudence Adzona, highlighted the importance of the initiative: “The Seeds for Tomorrow project exemplifies the strength of South-South and Triangular Cooperation. Through the IBSA Fund, Brazil and the Republic of Congo are not merely exchanging technical expertise, they are co-creating sustainable solutions to reinforce school feeding systems and support family farming. By linking school meals to locally sourced products, we have seen a significant increase in school attendance and improved student nutrition. Our priority now is to institutionalize these gains and scale the initiative sustainably at the national level.”
Representing Brazil’s National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE), Karine Santos reaffirmed the commitment to the Republic of Congo: “For the Brazilian government, it is very important to continue strengthening school feeding to improve the lives of millions of children in different countries.”
The project coordinator, Nadia Goodman, from WFP Republic of Congo, emphasized the innovative nature of the partnership: “We are building bridges between countries of
the Global South, showing that the exchange of experiences can generate effective and sustainable solutions for common challenges.”
Representing Brazil, Paola Barbieri, from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), recalled the country’s longstanding support for school feeding programmes: “The Brazilian government looks closely at the results of this project and is evaluating ways we can move forward to the next stages of this cooperation.”
Daniel Balaban, Director of the WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil, outlined possible ways forward for the project, pointing to new funding sources within the Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, as well as support from the School Meals Coalition: “By joining forces with the partners already engaged in this effort, these avenues will enable the continuity of cooperation.”
The four manuals officially launched during the meeting are: “Brazilian Agricultural Policies”, which presents a strategic vision of policies targeting family farming and possible adaptations to the Congolese context; “Steps for Purchasing Products from Family Farmers for the PNAE”, an operational guide for sourcing food from local producers for school meals; “Monitoring and Evaluation of the National School Feeding Programme”, which provides tools to assess programme performance; and “Social Control in the Brazilian School Feeding Programme”, which highlights the role of school feeding committees and community participation.
The materials will be distributed to the government and the communities where the project has been implemented and are also available on the Seeds for Tomorrow project webpage.