Between 13 and 23 October, a team from the WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil carried out a technical mission in southern Benin, with the aim of promoting the use of low-carbon technologies in school canteens. The initiative is part of a partnership between Brazil and France and was advised by Brazilian experts Ricardo Pereira de Farias and Luderlândio de Andrade Silva (also known as Bibi).
The initiative is led by the WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil and the World Food Programme (WFP) in Benin and includes activities that combine technological innovation, energy efficiency, and food and nutrition education, promoting practical solutions to reduce environmental impacts and improve meal preparation conditions in schools.
Biodigester and eco-friendly stoves
One of the mission’s milestones was the construction of a biodigester at a primary school in Djidja, which serves 225 students aged 5 to 16. The work was carried out between 13 and 17 October, with the participation of five bricklayers from the community, under the technical guidance of Ricardo Farias and Luderlândio Andrade, for the construction of the structures.
After just four days, on 21 October, the Brazilian delegation returned to the school and completed the installation of the stove, which was successfully lit thanks to the gas produced by the biodigester from cattle manure.
The biodigester allows organic waste to be transformed into biogas, in addition to producing biofertiliser as a by-product to naturally enrich the soil of the school garden.
In addition, with technical guidance from Luderlândio Andrade, low-carbon ecological stoves were built in three schools, designed to reduce firewood consumption and improve the working conditions of cooks, as they are taller and have chimneys that divert smoke.
In two of the schools, the mobile modular stove models that were developed have already been replicated by community members themselves without the need for technical support, demonstrating that the concepts have been absorbed locally and put into practice, due to the usefulness of the stoves for the community and the fact that they are made from accessible materials.
Ecological plant beds
The mission also included the implementation of water-saving plant beds in three schools, encouraging the cultivation of seedlings and seeds selected for the school garden.
The beds carry water directly underground, which causes it to remain in the soil for longer, creating bottom-up irrigation and considerably reducing the amount of water needed for maintenance. This ensures that seedlings grow, even during the dry season, allowing the garden to be maintained for the production of fresh and diverse food for school meals.
For Jéremie Soglongbe, the agricultural technician responsible for school gardens in the community of Toviklin, who participated in the construction of the ecological garden bed, this technology greatly improves school gardens throughout the region.
‘Now that we know the technique, we can rebuild the garden beds in several schools. The materials are accessible and we understand how to build them with the tools we already have. The garden beds are very important for ensuring and expanding the production of vegetable gardens to feed school children,’ he said.
Nutrition
On 18 October, nutrition activities aimed at cooks and children were held at the school located in Lalo.
Livia Martins, a nutritionist from the Centre of Excellence programmes team, conducted a food and nutrition education (FNE) activity with the school children, using a treasure hunt game as a fun tool to teach them about healthy eating and food diversity.
Livia, in partnership with the WFP office in Benin, created an illustrated booklet published by the Centre of Excellence entitled ‘Mangeons bien, Jouons Ensemble’ (Eating well, Playing together, in English), with activities and information on nutrition for use in schools.
Local purchasing
For activities related to local purchasing, members of the Centre of Excellence Programmes team, Nayla Almeida and Lívia Martins, with support from Christelle Achade, Amal Okotche and Evans Agbossou from WFP Benin, interviewed ten representatives from agricultural cooperatives in Djidja, Toviklin and Lalo.
The interviews sought information from cooperative members about local purchasing for school canteens to support proposals discussed and consolidated at a seminar held in the city of Bohicon on 20 October for around 40 people from the community.
Christelle Achade stated at the opening of the seminar that several important advances had been made in local purchasing for school meals in the region. The figures are impressive: local purchases for school meals rose from 300 tonnes in 2021 to 8,000 tonnes in 2024, which had a positive impact on a total of 23,412 small producers, 38% of whom are women from 40 communities; in addition to 55 organised women’s farming groups comprising 300 women who participated in training in agri-food processing.
‘This seminar is an important step in creating a sustainable scale of local procurement for school meals. It is an opportunity for us to design concrete actions for results that reinforce support for small-scale producers and school meals in Benin,’ she said.
South-South cooperation
The results of the mission will be systematised by the Centre of Excellence and WFP Benin for sharing with the National Food and Nutrition Agency of Benin, with a view to providing elements that favour the expansion and strengthening of school feeding in the country, considering climate-sensitive innovations and adequate nutrition.
The National Food and Nutrition Agency of Benin is currently primarily responsible for school feeding in the country through the National Integrated School Feeding Programme in more than 5,500 schools nationwide.
During the mission, a courtesy visit was also made to the Ministry of Primary and Early Childhood Education to share the results and discuss future proposals for collaboration between WFP and the Government of Benin.