Guyana's Hinterland Community-based School Feeding Program (SFP).

Abstract

This study presents the findings of a three year impact evaluation that was financed by the Guyana Education for All-Fast Track Initiative and the World Bank. The impact evaluation was developed in partnership with the World Bank team, Social Development Inc., and the Government of Guyana team, including impact evaluation design, field work, analysis, and writing of the study. Overall guidance and editing were provided by Angela Demas, Sr. Education Specialist at the World Bank, and valuable inputs were provided by Evelyn Hamilton, Chief Planning Officer of the Guyana Ministry of Education. Alonso Sánchez was instrumental in the analytical work for Round 2, and he was a main contributor to the study. We are grateful for the contributions of the enumerators, partnering agencies including staff at the Ministry of Education, Health, Agriculture, Amerindian Affairs, and Local Government. We thank the Regional Education Offices and the officers from the Department of Education at Bartica, Mabaruma and Moruca.

Home-grown school feeding: assessment of a pilot program in Nepal

“…A critical aspect of the pilot program is the meal costs, as also highlighted by an earlier study [29]. We showed that the costs ranged from NPR 21.0-33.5 per meal per child with higher costs for smaller schools.…”

“…The pilot had a remarkable involvement of parents, cooks, agricultural cooperatives, farmers and caterers. A previous study from Mali also suggested that home-grown school feeding has the potential to lead to active participation of local stakeholders including small-scale farmers and women's group and the school feeding program [22,29]. Another study from Guyana revealed that parents' and teachers' active participation in the school feeding program was a driver to improve the quality of the program [22,29].…”

“…A previous study from Mali also suggested that home-grown school feeding has the potential to lead to active participation of local stakeholders including small-scale farmers and women's group and the school feeding program [22,29]. Another study from Guyana revealed that parents' and teachers' active participation in the school feeding program was a driver to improve the quality of the program [22,29]. Local stakeholders also played an important role in program monitoring, helping to ensure that the budget allocated to the school meal program was used in an effective and efficient manner.…”

Impact of school meals on educational outcomes in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…Similarly, SFP beneficiary children had better performance on national academic assessment tests in Guyana (31) , while in Egypt, school meal improved visual memory, auditory vigilance, afternoon attentiveness and working memory (32) . In contrast, Argentina recorded only partial improvement in school performance due to the nutritional deficit of the meal (33) .…”

What works to improve early grade literacy in Latin America and the Caribbean? A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…These studies found no evidence that school feeding programs had positive and statistically significant effects on EGL outcomes in the LAC region (SMD = 0.07, 95% CI = −0.08, 0.23; evidence from two studies). For example, Ismail et al (2014) found no evidence of positive effects of a F I G U R E 9 Impact of one laptop per child program on reading outcomes on the basis of RCTs and quasiexperimental studies. CI, confidence interval; RCT, randomized controlled trial school feeding program on EGL outcomes in Guyana.…”