From the Farm to the School Table

Tuesday, April 23, 2019 10:10

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Human Wrongs Watch

How FAO’s work in Kyrgyzstan has helped local farmers supply produce for schoolchildren’s meals.

Up until recently, Kyrgyzstan lacked a convenient, well-structured, efficient and economically sound mechanism for cooperation between local farmers and schools. ©FAO

The Logistic Centre includes three storage facilities for holding potatoes, vegetables and other products. It is the first step in forging meaningful relationships for the benefit of children and rural residents. ©SIFI/Rustem Ilyasov

To address the issues, FAO is developing a Logistic Centre in Kemin as part of a pilot programme to link local farmers with Kyrgyzstan’s National School Feeding Programme. Equipped with a lab and storage facilities, the Logistic Centre can certify, buy and store local produce before selling and delivering it to nearby schools.

As a result, the Logistic Centre bridges a key disconnect: the inability of smallholder farmers to access the certification their produce needs in order to be served in schools – or shipped elsewhere.

The pilot is part of the FAO project “Developing Capacity for Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in Selected Countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia.”

Launched in 2016 and funded by the Russian Federation, the programme aims to strengthen food security and reduce all forms of malnutrition in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The overall aim here is to increase the effectiveness of the entire process of organizing school feeding by contributing to development of sustainable value chains.

Although the pilot programme in Kyrgyzstan only serves 29 schools, its success could serve as a model for other initiatives across the country. Until recently, Kyrgyzstan lacked an efficient mechanism to enable cooperation between farmers and schools.

But because school cafeterias are in need of quality vegetables virtually all year round, Kyrgyzstan’s National School Feeding Programme could become a sustainable sales market for local farmers – simultaneously supplying food for children and boosting local economies.

Regular and healthy meals are essential for children to ensure they can have the energy they need to grow, learn and play. ©SIFI/Rustem Ilyasov

At one of the participating schools in the town of Orlovka in Kemin District, Principal Shakun is relieved. The school is used to challenges – an unused chemistry classroom had to be converted to a cafeteria in order to qualify the school for the National School Feeding Programme – but finding enough food to feed 333 primary-school students each day has been a perpetual concern.

Now, the Logistic Centre is helping ease the pressure. “We are all for cooperating with the Logistic Centre because it is definitely going to benefit our children,” she says.

Principal Shakun knows that her schoolchildren’s growth depends on proper nutrition. Access to healthy food promotes good eating habits, supports children’s health and gives students energy for schoolwork.

But providing children with high-quality food isn’t just the job of a school; promoting nutritious school meals requires the cooperation of all members of the community. And as this pilot programme is demonstrating, entire communities can benefit as well.

By working with governments to link farmers to school feeding programmes, FAO is giving children a healthier start in life and improving farmers’ livelihoods, all a part of the global goal to achieve #ZeroHunger.

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