Sierra Leone is moving to scale up a German-funded school meals initiative, highlighting the programme as a key component of both immediate food security and long-term economic development.
During a two-day visit to Karene District, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali-Radovan, toured projects aimed at strengthening locally sourced nutrition and community resilience. The visit included Sierra Leone’s Minister of Planning, Kenyeh Barlay, and focused on the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme at Roman Catholic Primary School in Gbinti.
The programme, implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP) with German financing, is part of the global ‘School Meals Accelerator’ initiative. Officials framed it as a direct investment in human capital, linking improved nutrition to educational outcomes.
“Education cannot succeed on an empty stomach. School feeding is fundamental to better educational outcomes, serving as a vital link between nutrition and academic success,” said Education Minister Conrad Sackey, underlining the rationale for expanding the programme. The initiative also aligns with Sierra Leone’s ‘Big Five Game Changers’ agenda, which targets childhood malnutrition as a critical barrier to productivity.
Minister Alabali-Radovan praised the programme’s sustainability model. “Nutritious meals empower children to pursue their dreams and contribute to their communities,” she said, noting that the initiative now reaches over 150 schools, with meals prepared from locally sourced produce. This approach is designed to support smallholder farmers while improving child nutrition, creating a circular economic benefit for communities.
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The WFP Country Director outlined plans to significantly expand the scheme, targeting an additional 100,000 children and increasing the proportion of locally sourced food to 75 percent within participating schools over the next four years.
The delegation also visited community projects in Newton Village, focusing on land rights, youth skills training, and renewable energy, reflecting a broader strategy to integrate school feeding with holistic rural development.
For Sierra Leone, where food insecurity remains a persistent challenge, the partnership provides both critical funding and technical support. Minister Barlay emphasised that “nourishing children today paves the way for a productive future,” framing the initiative as a foundational investment in human capital.
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Analysts said the programme exemplifies a shift in development aid towards initiatives that offer tangible, measurable impacts on health, education, and local economies. By linking nutrition to learning outcomes and supporting local agricultural production, the programme seeks to deliver both short-term relief and long-term economic benefits.
The expansion also reflects growing international attention on school feeding as a tool for resilience. With Sierra Leone still recovering from years of economic and environmental shocks, donor-backed interventions such as this provide a dual focus: immediate food support and the creation of conditions that allow children and communities to thrive.
Officials stressed the importance of ongoing monitoring and evaluation to ensure that funding translates into measurable results in school attendance, nutrition levels, and agricultural incomes.
The partnership signals a sustained commitment by Germany and the WFP to support Sierra Leone in addressing food insecurity while promoting education and rural development. By combining investment in human capital with local economic empowerment, the programme aims to create a model that could be replicated in other food-insecure regions across West Africa.
