The National School Canteen Program (PNCS) presented its revised National School Food Policy and Strategy (PSNAS) 2024-2030 document which was signed on January 24, at the Karibe Convention Center, by Ministers Nesmy Manigat (Education), Bredy Charlot (Agriculure) and Alex Larsen (Health) to better ensure the school canteen and the health of students.

This revised PSNAS redefines the contours of the school feeding program by 2030 : its vision, its objectives, the targeting and selection criteria of schools. nutritional standards, implementation modalities and the role of stakeholders, financing mechanisms in order to galvanize a harmonious and coordinated approach to school feeding across the country.

The Vision of the Haitian Government through the MENFP is to ensure that all school children enjoy good nutritional health necessary for learning through the provision of healthy and balanced complementary nutrition in schools. prepared with almost exclusively local products and respecting nutritional standards, so that hunger is not a barrier to education. The objectives of the PSNAS are as follows:

General Objective 1 :

The provision of quality food services through the distribution of a healthy and nutritious daily meal to all students in educational institutions, to enable schoolchildren and their families to benefit from support that strengthens their resilience, while promoting use of environmentally friendly energy sources and cooking techniques

General Objective 2 :

Support for the local economy and the production of local food through the purchase of locally produced or processed food to revitalize targeted agricultural sectors. to enable small producers, particularly women, to increase their agricultural production and improve their livelihoods in a sustainable manner.

General Objective 3 :

The development of good governance mechanisms to mobilize resources, and coordinate and supervise the implementation of a national school feeding program in a transparent manner, with decentralized structures capable of ensuring monitoring and accountability of the institutions operating in the school feeding sub-sector.

General Objective 4 :

Participatory management and community ownership to strengthen local management of school feeding by school staff and parents, through school councils and other local structures, as part of healthy management, for the benefit of students and the community as a whole.

Compared to the initial version of 2016, the revised PSNAS makes the following changes:

• The expansion of age categories to include preschool and secondary school;

• Strengthening links with health, nutrition and hygiene activities with revised nutritional standards, and the systematic inclusion of deworming and monitoring of nutritional status in schools;

• Local purchases, with increasing inclusion of local products until reaching 100% in 2030, in particular through strengthened work with Professional Agricultural Organizations (OPA);

• Local management, through the action of School Councils and School Food Commissions;

• Innovation, through the dissemination of new cooking methods, including thermal bags and the establishment of an information and management system;

• Monitoring and generating evidence, through common indicators and objectives for all operators, and assessments at national level;

• Strengthening good governance mechanisms, notably the validation of partner interventions by the PNCS, and the establishment of a uniform database.

HL/ HaitiLibre