World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

A mid-morning meal at Child Jesus Nursery and Primary School in Uganda's Karamoja region… WFP provides free meals to all school children the north-eastern region.

This porridge is made from corn soya blend, a fortified food full of micronutrients.
 

Lunch, rich in energy… WFP reaches more than 100,000 children in schools across the region with school meals. Last year, WFP was providing two meals per day to these children but this year, because of lack of funding for the school programme, the number of meals is down to one per day.
 

Children sit on the ground to eat… Karamoja has the lowest development indicators of any region in Uganda. It is prone to drought and many people suffer from chronic poverty, hunger and malnutrition.

The school meals programme is one of a range of WFP initiatives aimed at helping the inhabitants of Karamoja cope with the challenges of hunger.
 

School meals encourage children to enrol and remain in school. They also make learning an easier and more enjoyable experience.

For some children in Karamoja, WFP food is their only meal of the day. WFP school meals also address stunting or chronic hunger, which often affects children’s mental capacity and leaves them short for their age. Stunting affects 45 percent of all young children in Karamoja.

Due to a funding shortage, WFP currently provides only the mid-morning meal. The United States (McGovern-Dole Foundation) and Germany have been major funders of WFP school meals in recent years.