Eswatini has a national school meal programme managed by the Ministry of Education and Training, which provides hot lunches to all primary and secondary schoolchildren. As of 2022, there are no official nutrition standards that regulate school food in the country.
Food and nutrition education is integrated within the national curriculum of Eswatini through the subjects of consumer sciences, agriculture and biology.
School Food
Eswatini has a national universal school meal programme (known as the "National School Feeding Programme") which targets primary and secondary schoolchildren from all public schools, and some pre-primary schools. The programme is managed by the Nutrition Unit within the Ministry of Education and Training, with support from external partners like WFP, FAO, Save the Children and World Vision. The Ministry of Agriculture, WFP and FAO also provide support to a pilot Home-Grown School Feeding project.
In many regions, tuck shops operate inside schools, and vendors sell prepared foods at school gates or around schools, while others have informal food vending inside the schools.
The national programme provides hot meals prepared on-site during lunch time, five days a week. Meals are planned based on a minimum of 150g/child/day of maize (processed into "mealies" or "samp") or rice, 40g/child/day of beans, 7.5g/child/day of sunflower oil and peanut butter (no quantity specified). Schools have the freedom to decide on the specific recipes and menus but they should comply with the basic rations per child established. In some schools, meals are complemented with fruits and vegetables harvested in the school garden(s) along with other foods produced in nearby localities, such as goat meat, beef, dairy products, eggs and chicken.
In addition to the non-perishable ingredients provided by the programme, at the pre-primary and primary level there is a supplementary provision per child and a financial allocation from the government to cover the cooks’ wages; at the secondary level, these costs ought to be covered from school fees (depending on household socioeconomic status).
The cooks, who are expected to have a certain level of literacy, are responsible for ensuring the adequate planning and preparation of the school meals with the assistance of a focal teacher. Cooks and head teachers can attend trainings (workshops or demonstrations) organized by the Ministry of Education, and mostly supported by partners, on different aspects of programme implementation, such as using alternative fuels for kitchens, food safety rules and ensuring food quality. An implementation manual for head teachers (2011) also exists, providing guidance on ensuring safe water, sanitation and hygiene, minimum meal content and eating time, psychosocial support, and other aspects.
Nutrition inspectors are in charge of programme monitoring at the subnational level, through occasional school visits to check compliance with cooks food safety requirements and practices, quality of the meals, infrastructure, access to safe water, among others.
At present, there are no specific nutrition standards that define or regulate school meals or the types of foods that are sold in and around schools in Eswatini.
School-Based Food and Nutrition Education
Food and nutrition education is integrated within the national curriculum of Eswatini through the subjects of consumer sciences, agriculture and biology. It is taught at three levels: primary (grades 6-7), junior secondary (forms 1-3) and senior secondary level (forms 4-5), with more in depth information added at the higher level.
Agriculture is included as a topic in both primary and secondary schools. A life skills curriculum in the guidance and counselling unit also has a component on nutrition, which is taught formally in secondary schools.
| Main targets | Primary and secondary schoolchildren |
| Main educators | Teachers and ministry staff |
| Integration within the curriculum
| As an independent subject "Food and nutrition" (Forms 4-5) As part of one subject
As part of broader health education or education for sustainability "Life skills"(secondary) |
Development
The Education Sector policy (2011) supports the integration of food and nutrition education in the curriculum, and states that subjects should enable learners to develop essential skills to deal with issues such as malnutrition, child-headed families and looking after terminally-ill relatives. Topics are regularly updated to include current issues via education panel meetings at the national curriculum centre, e.g., links between nutrition and diabetes is now being included in the science curricula (both primary and secondary level) due to rising levels of diabetes prevalence. The Ministry of Agriculture is also reintroducing sustainable indigenous foods into its programme, a move which is being reinforced through the consumer science curricula.
Other relevant partners in curriculum development include the Schools’ Health team and the schools inspectorate (to supervise teachers on delivery).
Implementation
Teachers are the main implementers of food and nutrition education activities. The Ministry of Agriculture curriculum unit provides the expertise for agriculture activities such as crop and livestock production in school gardens, as well as providing components such as tools, fencing etc. Head teachers and focal points work with school agriculture advisors to encourage students to produce food that is suitable for school kitchens.
The main food and nutrition topics addressed in the curriculum at primary and secondary level (forms 1-5) are:
- Nutrient functions, and/or nutritional value of foods
- Food groups – food pyramid, nutrients and sources
- Relationship between diet and health or disease (e.g., causes of malnutrition, prevention of nutritional disorders)
- Food preparation – how to cook and preserve nutrients
- Choice of food – buying and preserving
- Food safety, hygiene and/or sanitation
- Food preservation and preventing waste
- Dietary requirements for different family members
- Meal planning for different groups
There is an emphasis on both theory and practical skills, including time management in preparing a balanced meal and marketing techniques within school premises to sell meals to other students.
Some examples of activities carried out at the school level include practical lessons in planning and preparing nutritious meals and gardening/raising small animals (e.g. rabbits and chickens).
Monitoring and Evaluation
The assessment of the learning objectives and achievements is done as part of the specific evaluation of each subject (e.g via examinations, activities-in-school, homework). An evaluation of the country’s school feeding programme found high levels of achievement in nutrition, health and hygiene education especially at primary school levels, including high levels of knowledge on good nutrition and dietary practices.
Learners are tested on food and nutrition education at all levels (primary and secondary) in both practical and theory exams. Results are sometimes used to identify gaps in learning and in the curriculum.
Relevant Links
Publications
Evaluation of Eswatini's National School Feeding Programme (2010-2018)
The decentralized evaluation was jointly commissioned by the Eswatini Country Office and covers the National School Feeding Programme (NSFP) for the period 2010 - 2018.
The evaluation was undertaken in 2019, at the time when the Government of Eswatini had issued a revised education and training sector policy (2018) that has a strong emphasis on school feeding. This policy seeks to introduce school feeding in all public primary and secondary schools in Eswatini. The evaluation timing also coincided with WFP Eswatini Country Office’s development of the five-year Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2020-2024, that has school feeding as one of its strategic focus areas.
The evaluation was jointly managed by the WFP Eswatini Country Office and the Ministry of Education and Training and conducted by independent consultants, with fieldwork taking place in May 2019.