The WFP’s Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) initiative links school feeding programmes with local smallholder farmers to provide schoolchildren with food that is safe, diverse, nutritious, and above all local. HGSF programmes provide a first step towards linking local production value chains to supporting the provision of nutritious foods in schools. The schools provide local farmers with a predictable outlet for their products, leading to a stable income, more investments and higher productivity. The children enjoy healthy, diversified food; this makes it more likely that they will stay in school, perform better and improve their adult job prospects.
This project trials and demonstrates the WFP Home Grown School Feeding approach by linking smallholder farmers to schools, which will be based on good practices in HGSF adapted to the local context.
| Use case | Supply chain management, Sustainable farming, Access to market, Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services |
| Funding | World Food Program |
| Donor | WFP |
| Focus Area | The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Tajikistan implements a HGSF modality in selected districts in 2023. The project aims to increase the food security and nutrition of children in target schools through the provision of locally produced and diversified nutritious food. Simultaneously, the project intends to increase the access of smallholder farmers to institutional market for increasing income and improving livelihoods. A Field Level Agreement (FLA) has been signed by Neksigol Mushovir as Cooperating Partner to implement the project. |
| Objectives | — |
| Start Date | 10-05-2023 |
| End Date | 30-06-2024 |
| Duration | 24 months |
| Coverage | B. Ghafurov and Spitamen districts in Sughd province, Kulob and Vose districts in Khatlon province, and Rasht and Tojikobod in DRS |
| Beneficiaries | Smallholder farmers |
| Beneficiary number | The project’s direct beneficiaries are 30 men and 60 women smallholder farmers |
| Partners | Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, District Hukumats, Departments of Education, Departments of Agriculture of target districts and provinces, Jamoat authorities of each location of target schools, Project Management Committees, Producer Groups and Women Producers Groups, Target schools |
| Key activities | — Comprehensive needs assessments comprising of (1) School needs for food commodities, (2) Existing food systems and local potential for food production and (3) Baseline Data — Developing and implementing a technology transfer program for small producer groups, including: (1) Seed banks for the introduction of seeds resilient to climate change (2) Agricultural equipment such as gardening tools, soil thermometers, soil tensiometers (moisture), post-harvest management equipment and supplies, etc (3) Compost and bio humus production (4) Low tunnel greenhouses (5) Solar greenhouse (6) Vertical farming for fodder, micro-greens and mushroom production (7) Livestock with sufficient fodder and other start-up requirements- Developing and implementing a capacity building program for small producer groups and traders, including: (1) Establishing producer group and inclusive group governance (2) Customary and innovative, environmentally-sound, nutrition-sensitive small-scale agriculture for food and fodder production (3) Training for Producer Group Leaders (4) Training for Producer Group Accountants (5) Public procurement rules and Good business principles — Linking producer groups with traders, target schools and local markets |
