Funding Gap Threatens School Lunches in Southern Madagascar
The provision of school lunches to 215,000 children in 1,200 primary schools in southern Madagascar could be suspended by the end of January 2013 if the World Food Programme (WFP) fails to make up a funding shortfall of $4.84 million. The funds are needed to cover the cost of running the feeding scheme from December 2012 to May 2013.
“Normally, we send out enough food to the schools for three months, but since the stock is so low, we are planning to send out only for a month,” said Enrique Alvarez, head of the WFP sub-office in Ambovombe, on Madagascar’s southern coast.
Elna Vavisoa, 10, from the village of Andranovato is a beneficiary of the school feeding program. After crossing a river by boat to reach her school and spending a morning in the classroom, she receives a school lunch. While she usually only eats rice and manioc at home, the school meal includes boiled corn and vegetables.
“Sometimes, there is no food at home,” she told IRIN. “My father is a fisherman and my mother sells the fish in the market. When my father doesn’t catch anything, I ask my big sister to go find us some food.”
Read more of the story here at the IRIN news service:
MADAGASCAR: Funding gap threatens school lunches
Category: Africa
