📋 Tender Overview
PROJECT ID
110809
TOTAL FUNDING
CAD 993,700.00
PROJECT STATUS
Active
DURATION
48 months
Description: The government of Burundi has been committed to developing a school feeding program based on local procurement since 2013. However, the program still relies mainly on imported food (60%), the nutritional quality of school meals is low, and the agricultural groups involved in supplying school food suffer from difficulties in accessing funding, a problem particularly affecting women, and are given little encouragement to adopt agroecological practices that would ensure their long-term resilience and sustainability.
This project aims to increase the supply of sustainable and nutritious local produce to Burundi's school canteens through inclusive and gender-equal processes, with the ultimate objective to improve farmers' incomes, contribute to the resilience of food systems, and improve the nutritional quality of school meals. Using mixed methods of data collection and analysis, and through co-creation processes involving local stakeholders, the project will establish a multidimensional diagnosis of school food supply systems, develop nutritious school menus adapted to the three main socio-ecological regions of the country, test gender-sensitive innovations to improve the quality and preservation of maize, rice, beans and cassava, and pilot new contract modalities between farmers and schools. The innovations will be scaled at the territorial and national levels through knowledge sharing and engagement with key stakeholders and national policymakers.
Led by the East Africa Leadership Institute (EALI) of Burundi, in partnership with ISABU (Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi), this 48-month project will provide evidence on effective pathways to solve critical issues encountered in the school food system and will improve the policy environment and public food procurement system for increased local climate resilience, equity, and nutrition for students.
The project is part of the Catalyzing Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Procurement for School Food (CRISP), a cohort of projects that aim to catalyze the adoption and scaling-up of regenerative, equitable and inclusive practices in school meal supply systems in Africa, with the ultimate goal of contributing to the agroecological transition of local and national food systems.
