Food-for-Education programs: Lessons for Uganda

Food-for-Education (FFE) programs can help Uganda fight malnutrition and hunger while broadening access to primary education. Whether these programs involve in-school feeding or take-home rations, they have the potential both to improve student’s school attendance and to measurably, if modestly, increase household food security. But the benefits and costs of different FFE program models, including Community Based School Feeding (CBSF) programs that may also contribute to local agricultural development, must be carefully considered if such programs are to be successful in improving the nutritional status of their beneficiaries, increasing educational attainment, strengthening human capital and, ultimately, accelerating human development in Uganda.