World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Bags of cereals ready for delivery at Koureme port, near Timbuktu.  Food arrives at the port by boat from WFP’s logistics base in Mopti before getting delivered to schools. Students receive a mixture of corn and soya for breakfast, and rice, millet, and beans for lunch. 

The Koureme school is located in Kabara, a poor village with just 1250 inhabitants The community relies on fishing for its livelihood and is vulnerable to food crises such as the one in 2011-2012 that affected the entire country of Mali. The conflict that followed and the uncertain security situation caused many schools to close. As they have now reopened, students are on their way back to school.

For students like this young boy, Oumar, 9, receiving nutritious meals allows them to focus on their studies. 

Aminata has been working at Koureme school for 10 years. Volunteer cooks receive daily meals to take home. The workload of the cooks has increased as school attendance has gone up since WFP started its emergency school feeding.

Students’ mothers help bring food to students. Many parents don’t have enough money to feed their children properly. When they send their children to school, they know that they won’t be hungry when they come back home.

For lunch, students receive porridge made with millet, rice, oil and pulses. Having breakfast and lunch at school provides the nutrients and energy they need each day. 

By supporting these schools, WFP is encouraging families to send their children to school and improving their chances for the future. Now that he is regularly attending school, Ibrahima has new ambitions: he wants to continue his studies in Bamako in order to one day become a pilot. 

Fatoumata, 9, is one of 104 girls at Koureme school. Before the start of the programme, parents were reluctant to send their daughters to school, but the girls now outnumber the boys. 

By assisting 300 schools in Timbuktu and 270 in Gao, the World Food Programme (WFP) is feeding more than 120,000 school children in northern Mali.