Boosting Brains and Breaking Barriers: a closer look at Ghana’s school feeding success

Ever wondered if school meals could make a real difference in a child’s education? A recent experiment in Ghana aimed to find out, and the results are quite eye-opening.

In a large-scale initiative led by the Ghanaian government, our researcher Elisabetta Aurino co-conducted a randomized trial to explore the impact of the school feeding program on students’ learning. What they found after two years was pretty remarkable and it was published in Journal of Human Resources.

On average, students in programme communities showed moderate improvements in math and literacy scores. But here’s the really exciting part: children facing higher poverty levels and educationally-disadvantaged regions experienced even greater strides in their achievements.

How did it work? The researchers think that the improvements in child schooling, cognitive abilities, and nutrition played a big role. These factors were especially important for those groups of pupils that often face educational challenges.

This school feeding program not only helped kids learn better but also served as a form of social protection, offering a transfer of the size of the meal to families over the course of the whole academic year. It contributed to a broader goal of “learning for all,” aligning with sustainable development agendas.

In a nutshell, providing school meals on a large scale isn’t just about filling stomachs; it’s about nourishing minds and breaking down barriers to education. Ghana’s success story shows that sometimes, a simple meal can be the key to unlocking an equitable future for all.

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