School meals as a market for smallholder agriculture: Experimental evidence from Ghana

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dc.creatorGelli, Aulo
dc.creatorMasset, Edoardo
dc.creatorAdamba, Clement
dc.creatorAlderman, Harold
dc.creatorArhinful, Daniel K.
dc.creatorAurino, Elisabetta
dc.creatorFolson, Gloria
dc.creatorOsei-Akoto, Isaac
dc.creatorAsante, Felix Ankomah
dc.date2021-10-04
dc.date2024-05-22T12:14:20Z
dc.date2024-05-22T12:14:20Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T15:08:04Z
dc.descriptionGovernments and international development partners investing over $40 USD billion a year in school meals have shown interest in linking these programs with agriculture sector development, through what has become known as “Home-Grown” school feeding (HGSF). Nevertheless, evidence on the effectiveness of HGSF and agriculture is limited. This article reports on the findings of a three-year cluster randomized trial implemented in 58 districts of Ghana including a panel of 1,668 households. Communities were randomly assigned to 1) standard school meals; 2) HGSF or 3) control with no intervention. Post-intervention, the caterer-level analysis highlighted major challenges related to delayed program disbursements, resulting in a mismatch between budgeted and actual caterer outlay on food purchases per pupil equivalent to approximately 50% of the budgeted per child per day allocation. For caterers, by far the largest procurement channel was through traders, though there is evidence that HGSF may have increased the share of value purchased directly from smallholders. We find no strong evidence that the school feeding program or HGSF affected smallholders market structure, farm, non-farm and household income. When interpreting these null results, it is important to consider the findings of two parallel studies that showed positive effects of this national program on school children’s learning, cognition, and nutrition outcomes. The national program can still be considered as an effective social protection strategy with multiple objectives, even if the agriculture objectives remain aspirational.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/143467
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/95552
dc.languageen
dc.publisherInternational Food Policy Research Institute
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceGelli, Aulo; Masset, Edoardo; Adamba, Clement; Alderman, Harold; Arhinful, Daniel K.; Aurino, Elisabetta; Folson, Gloria; Osei-Akoto, Isaac; and Asante, Felix A. 2021. School meals as a market for smallholder agriculture: Experimental evidence from Ghana. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2045. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134616.
dc.subjectschool feeding
dc.subjectimpact evaluation
dc.subjectagriculture
dc.subjectschoolchildren
dc.subjectsmallholders
dc.subjectmarkets
dc.subjectnutrition
dc.subjectchildren
dc.subjectimpact assessment
dc.titleSchool meals as a market for smallholder agriculture: Experimental evidence from Ghana
dc.typeWorking Paper

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Instituto Internacional de Investigación sobre Políticas Alimentarias (IFPRI)