Food Aid Outlook – School feeding more important now than ever

School Feeding with beans in Guatemala

USDBC is a long time participant in U.S. government food assistance programs and places a high priority on this activity. We are committed to providing other food insecure nations around the world with much needed sustenance. U.S. dry beans are shipped to numerous countries around the world as they are a staple of many diets and prized for their nutritious value and satiety.

We know that the Coronavirus pandemic is having a significant impact on these programs and on global child nutrition and are watching this closely.

Nearly 1.5 billion children – more than half of the world’s student population – are being kept away from school due to pandemic response measures. Nationwide school closures are in force in more than 180 countries while in many others there are localized closures which threaten to become countrywide.

The disruption and closure of schools around the world means children are not getting the education they need nor their daily nutritional needs as their school meal is frequently the only meal of the day. More than 350 million schoolchildren in countries with nationwide and localized closures, might not have access to regular school feeding and nutrition services during the pandemic. It is difficult to predict how long school closures will last, so the health, food security and nutrition of the most vulnerable children must be prioritized. Expected negative economic impacts and the potential disruption of local food systems, together with household mitigation behaviors can further restrict children’s access to adequate food and diet quality. Furthermore, in countries with home grown school feeding programs, the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and suppliers are at risk when such programs are disrupted.

In response, USDBC is supporting the idea that school feeding programs need to maintain flexibility and responsiveness to changing conditions for supply and distribution of food and provision of nutrition services, while ensuring compliance with COVID-19 protocols. This may include delivery of meals or take home rations to children who are out of school, so that they have access to nutritious food. We know that our dry beans continue to be purchased by USDA for school feeding programs and recently, they have gone into propositioning warehouses so that they are available for rapid and emergency response. We continue to support this important work and will be ready to continue to do so once schools reopen and the rhythm of bean purchases for global food assistance begins to pick up.