The WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger has released a video retracing the history of its cooperation with Malawi, a country in south-east Africa that in November 2024 began a Scale-Up Plan aiming to provide school feeding to 100% of its students by 2030.
Brazil and Malawi began a dialogue on the construction of a school feeding programme in the country in 2012 and, since then, Brazil has accompanied the process with rounds of dialogues, events and technical visits that have contributed to the drafting and implementation of the National School Health and Nutrition Policy in the country.
Today, 43 per cent of schools in Malawi offer at least one meal to students and have community gardens. Small farmers are also stronger, with the possibility of selling to the local market and supplying food to schools.
But the dialogue continues. Programme Officer Maria Giulia Senesi was in the country in November 2024 and followed the process of drawing up the Scaling Plan and launching it. The following month, representatives of the Malawi government presented the Plan during their participation in the Global Child Nutrition Forum (GCNF), the largest international event on child nutrition and school feeding, which took place in Osaka, Japan, between 9 and 12 December 2024.
For Maria Giulia, there are possibilities for continuity in this cooperation between the Centre of Excellence and Malawi. ‘The dialogue should continue through advice on advocacy activities, the country’s participation in the School Feeding Coalition, and the strategic accompaniment of a new WFP staff allocated to the Ministry of Education for the on-site implementation of the Scaling Plan,’ she said.
In addition, a range of activities is to be organized throughout 2025. ‘All with the aim of improving school feeding more and more and, with this, promoting improvements in the community and for the country’s children,’ said Maria Giulia.
Watch the video and read Maria Giulia Senesi’s full interview about her mission trip and the launch of the Scale-Up Plan in Malawi.