Sustainable budget line for scaling up the implementation of school nutrition and healthy meal programs

By 2030, the Government of Tajikistan will create a sustainable budget line for school nutrition and healthy meal programs. Currently the government National School Meal Programme supports 93 schools nationwide with an annual budget allocation of 19 mln TJS. Given budget allocation is set to increase by TJS 10 million every year starting from 2026, adding additional 207 schools. These initiatives will be implemented by Ministry of Education and Science with the close cooperation of Ministries of Finance and Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population with the technical assistance of the United Nations World Food Programme, UNICEF, WHO, private sectors. The increased budget will be used to improve the quality and diversity of meals provided, incorporating more locally sourced and diverse nutritious ingredients. Additionally, it will reinforce the implementation of comprehensive nutrition education programs within schools, teaching children the importance of healthy eating habits to prevent overweight/obesity among school children. It is aimed to reduce prevalence of obesity/overweight from 6% (source -COSI, 2019, WHO) to 5% in 2030.

Furthermore, WFP will support the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) to assess the public financing mechanism and governmental potential for sustainable funding of school feeding programmes. The existing government fiscal planning processes related to school meals will be explored and opportunities for optimization and improvement will be identified. WFP and MoES will create also a mechanism for sustainable co-financing of the National School Meals Program by supporting the cost-effective activities of local farmers (entrepreneurs) to encourage and empower them to invest in improving school meals.