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Locally sourced school meals support Burundi’s children and farmers

3 min readMay 8, 2025

Selling produce to local schools gives farmers a stable income — and their children, nutritious meals.

“I benefit twice from the school meals programme: I sell my crops to the cooperative, which supplies them to the school to be fed to my children,” says Julienne. Photo: WFP/Irenée Nduwayezu

By Christine Coudour and Charlotte Bonnet

It’s noon in Muyinga. On Buhinyuza hill in northern Burundi, Julienne tends her vegetable field. Like most parents, it’s lunchtime — but she no longer has to interrupt her work to feed her family.

“Previously, we had to stop working in the fields to make lunch for our children,” says Julienne, a mother of five. “Now, they have a good lunch at school, and I don’t worry anymore.”

This means more time for farming and less costs: a meal at school can help vulnerable families in Burundi save some of their food consumption expenditure and invest it into other household needs.

Désiré, Julienne’s 12-year-old son, enjoys a healthy meal at school prepared with local ingredients. Photo: WFP/Irenée Nduwayezu

“We used to consume 1.5kg of corn flour with vegetables for lunch every day. Now, we consume less than 1kg, and the rest is saved for the next day.”

The elementary school attended by three of Julienne’s children in Muyinga provides school meals to almost a thousand students. It is one of 885 participating in the school meals programme implemented by the government of Burundi and supported by the World Food Programme (WFP).

For farmers like Julienne, the school meals programme provides dual benefits; selling fresh produce to cooperatives that supply local schools allows them to earn a stable income, while their children receive locally-sourced nutritious meals at school.

“The purchase price from the farmers’ cooperative is double that offered by the local market,” says Julienne. “Thanks to the profits from my sales and the dividend from the farmers’ cooperative, I was able to buy a goat and a farm.”

The benefits of home-grown school feeding extend far beyond children, strengthening the resilience of families like Julienne’ s, and local economies. Photo: WFP/Irenée Nduwayezu

WFP supports 30,000 smallholder farmers to strengthen their capacity to produce and supply maize, beans, rice and milk to schools. In 2024, 40 percent of all the food purchased by WFP for its school feeding programme in Burundi was purchased locally, injecting over US$6.8 million into the local economy.

The school meals programme also improves the living conditions of women and elevates their status in society. More than 55 percent of those working in farming cooperatives are women. For Sabine, joining a cooperative has given her more independence.

“Farmers’ cooperatives are a place of economic growth for women”, says Sabine. Photo: WFP/Irenée Nduwayezu

“I can buy a dress, a goat, or a rabbit without needing my husband’s support. Even if he is away, I can provide for my nine children,” she says.

Sabine has already bought two goats, a plot of land for cultivation, and financed her daughter’s private university education.

“My husband includes me in managing our finances since he recognizes my contribution. We now combine our resources, which was previously impossible.”

Over 753,000 pre-primary and elementary school children in Burundi’s most food-insecure regions currently receive nutritious school meals. The Government aims to achieve universal coverage by 2032 and has increased its contributions for school meals from US $4.5 million to US $9 million in 2025, with $7.5 million transferred to WFP for implementation.

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