{"title":"Perceived benefits and challenges of school feeding program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a qualitative study.","authors":"Yihalem Tamiru, Afework Mulugeta, Abebe Ayelign, Dube Jara, Elyas Melaku, Samson Gebremedhin","doi":"10.1017/jns.2024.42","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Addis Ababa initiated a universal Home-Grown School Feeding Program (HGSFP) in February 2019 to address hunger and improve the educational outcomes of schoolchildren. This study aimed to document the perceived benefits and challenges of the HGSFP in Addis Ababa, where such information was lacking. In May 2023, a qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to collect data from 20 schools participating in the HGSFP. Data were collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 98 purposively selected participants. The study encompassed 48 student mothers in 5 FGDs, 20 student interviews, 20 school principals, and 10 experts from the Ministry of Education, Sub-cities, and the School Feeding Agency for in-depth interviews. Data collected in the local language were transcribed, translated into English, and thematically analysed using ATLAS-TI software. The study's findings unveiled the transformative impact of the HGSFP in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It demonstrated remarkable improvements in attendance, concentration, academic performance, reduced dropout rates, financial relief, enhanced behaviour, and a safer learning environment. However, urgent measures are imperative to tackle pressing challenges such as underpaid kitchen workers, operational issues, reduced reading time, rising food costs, limited market access, inadequate infrastructure, and growing dependency. To ensure the enduring sustainability of HGSFP, addressing challenges like workload reduction, kitchen infrastructure enhancement, government guideline implementation, promoting self-reliance, overcoming budget limitations, and addressing school gardening obstacles is vital.</p>","PeriodicalId":47536,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Nutritional Science","volume":"13 ","pages":"e32"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11418071/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Nutritional Science","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2024.42","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"NUTRITION & DIETETICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Addis Ababa initiated a universal Home-Grown School Feeding Program (HGSFP) in February 2019 to address hunger and improve the educational outcomes of schoolchildren. This study aimed to document the perceived benefits and challenges of the HGSFP in Addis Ababa, where such information was lacking. In May 2023, a qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to collect data from 20 schools participating in the HGSFP. Data were collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 98 purposively selected participants. The study encompassed 48 student mothers in 5 FGDs, 20 student interviews, 20 school principals, and 10 experts from the Ministry of Education, Sub-cities, and the School Feeding Agency for in-depth interviews. Data collected in the local language were transcribed, translated into English, and thematically analysed using ATLAS-TI software. The study's findings unveiled the transformative impact of the HGSFP in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It demonstrated remarkable improvements in attendance, concentration, academic performance, reduced dropout rates, financial relief, enhanced behaviour, and a safer learning environment. However, urgent measures are imperative to tackle pressing challenges such as underpaid kitchen workers, operational issues, reduced reading time, rising food costs, limited market access, inadequate infrastructure, and growing dependency. To ensure the enduring sustainability of HGSFP, addressing challenges like workload reduction, kitchen infrastructure enhancement, government guideline implementation, promoting self-reliance, overcoming budget limitations, and addressing school gardening obstacles is vital.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Nutritional Science is an international, peer-reviewed, online only, open access journal that welcomes high-quality research articles in all aspects of nutrition. The underlying aim of all work should be, as far as possible, to develop nutritional concepts. JNS encompasses the full spectrum of nutritional science including public health nutrition, epidemiology, dietary surveys, nutritional requirements, metabolic studies, body composition, energetics, appetite, obesity, ageing, endocrinology, immunology, neuroscience, microbiology, genetics, molecular and cellular biology and nutrigenomics. JNS welcomes Primary Research Papers, Brief Reports, Review Articles, Systematic Reviews, Workshop Reports, Letters to the Editor and Obituaries.