School Feeding for Girls: A Win-Win for Gender Equality

Education is essential to gender equality and girls’ empowerment. This is undeniable: it has been illustrated and demonstrated many times over. Education helps break the vicious circle of poverty in many ways. As adults, educated girls are more likely to take part in the economic system, participate actively in the labor market, generate incomes, and therefore provide for their needs and those of their family. Moreover, girls who go to school are less exposed to violence, early marriage, early pregnancy, or diseases, including HIV. The benefits of education on girls are multiple, presenting significant opportunities to build and strengthen their empowerment.

Yet girls still face many difficulties to access education. According to UNESCO, 1 in every 10 girls in the world is out of school. Dropout figures are especially high in Sub-Saharan countries. There are numerous barriers to rural girls’ access to school, preventing them from fully embracing the opportunities given by education. In most cases, girls are kept out of school to participate in domestic tasks or to help their family. Parents are usually unaware of the opportunities offered by a regular and qualitative education or cannot afford the “cost” of education—even though the money spent can constitute both an investment and a future income. The obstacles for girls to go to school undercut their chances to build a safer and brighter future. Overcoming these hurdles must be a priority. Sustainable solutions must be implemented to foster girls’ access to school and prevent dropouts—not only for the girls themselves or their families but for the whole of society.


Among the solutions for rural girls’ education found over time, school feeding programs stand out as a key remedy. By offering children nutritive and healthy meals, snacks, or take-home rations, school feeding programs promote school enrollment and attendance. The food provides a compelling incentive for families to enroll girls in school, helping to close the domestic expense gap that would otherwise influence parents’ decision making. School feeding programs also have an important impact on girls’ health and cognitive development. They significantly strengthen their ability to learn and therefore increase their capacity to get the most out of the education they receive. These short-term benefits of girls’ education and health can actually contribute to long-term impacts on the economy by increasing performance, productivity, and employability as adults. A study conducted by the World Food Programme showed that every US$1 invested in school feeding programs brought a US$3 to US$8 economic return.

We couldn't get breakfast last year. We used to go to school without eating anything. We could not follow lessons properly due to hunger, and this contributed to the dropout of my sister and myself.

—Shashitu, Leiki
In March 2018, France endowed a new international strategy for gender equality that reaffirms its commitment to reaching SDG 5 (achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls). The French gender strategy defines a broadened approach by mainstreaming gender, not only in France’s development cooperation but also in every aspect of France’s foreign policy. One of the key sectorial pillars of the international strategy for gender equality is to ensure free and equal access for girls to basic social services and, in particular, to education. In this respect, France is strongly engaged in fighting against barriers that prevent girls’ access to school. By offering plurisectorial benefits, school feeding programs are perfectly aligned with the gender mainstreaming approach endowed by France. Support for school feeding programs indeed constitutes a cornerstone of its contributions to the World Food Programme, with a special focus on Sub-Saharan countries.
 
I am strongly convinced that school feeding programs, by fostering school enrollment and attendance, can not only contribute to bridging the gender gap in rural areas, but can also help girls fulfill their potential to be central actors of the economic system. If we want to overcome the barriers impacting girls’ ability to be leaders in their communities, school feeding programs deserve our fullest attention and support. Their contribution to achieving girls’ empowerment, especially in rural areas, cannot be underestimated.

I am strongly convinced that school feeding programs, by fostering school enrollment and attendance, can not only contribute to bridging the gender gap in rural areas, but also can help girls fulfill their potential to be central actors of the economic system.

© 2018 THE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS