Printable version (.pdf)The McGovern–Dole
International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (FFE program) helps
support education, child development, and food security for some of the world's
poorest children. It provides for donations of U.S. agricultural products, as
well as financial and technical assistance, for school feeding and maternal and
child nutrition projects in low-income, food-deficit countries that are
committed to universal education.
The fundamental goal of the FFE program, successor to the pilot Global Food
for Education Program, is to use food as an incentive to improve education and
nutrition. The key objectives of the FFE program are to reduce hunger and
improve literacy and primary education, especially for girls. By providing
school meals, teacher training, and related support, FFE projects help boost
school enrollment and academic performance. The FFE program also provides
nutrition programs for pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants, and preschool
youngsters to sustain and improve the health and learning capacity of children
before they enter school.
The FFE program was authorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act
of 2002 and is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign
Agricultural Service (FAS). The program is named in honor of Ambassador and
former Senator George McGovern and former Senator Robert Dole for their tireless
efforts to encourage a global commitment to school feeding and child nutrition.
Reaffirming the U.S. Commitment: Today, an estimated 120 million
school-age children around the world are not enrolled in school, in part because
of hunger or malnutrition. The majority of these children are girls.
The FFE program reaffirms the U.S. commitment to childhood education and
nutrition globally. In fiscal 2005, the FFE program made approximately $91
million available to provide 118,000 tons of food to 3.4 million children in 15
developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. These
efforts resulted in more children entering schools, improved student
performance, and greater parental and community involvement in education. For
fiscal 2006, USDA seeks FFE funding of $99 million to assist an additional 2.5
million children. The United States is encouraging other donor countries,
foundations, and international organizations to support, sponsor, and
participate in similar programs.
How the Program Works: The school feeding and nutrition projects are
conducted by nonprofit charitable organizations, cooperatives, and international
organizations. USDA invites and carefully reviews proposals for projects. USDA
bases its approval on the following criteria:
- a proposal's quality and potential impact;
- its provision of incentives to help offset cultural barriers that limit
education of girls;
- the degree to which it will lessen the need for children to work rather
than go to school; and
- the literacy rates, school attendance rates, and expenditures of the
recipient country on education.
Organizations conducting FFE projects must develop and initiate plans for
sustainability, so that the communities being served under the program can
graduate from USDA assistance and continue the sponsored activities on their own
or with support from other sources.
The FFE program focuses on countries that meet the poverty
criteria established by the World Bank. The national government of the recipient
country must be fully committed to achieving the goals of the World Declaration
on Education for All and should be taking steps to raise nutritional standards
and improve the quality and availability of education.
In addition to donating and shipping agricultural commodities, USDA may also
pay transportation, storage, and handling costs within the recipient country, as
well as administrative expenses of the participating organizations to enhance
program effectiveness.
Additional Information: For more information, contact: Programming
Division, Office of Capacity Building and Development, FAS/USDA, Stop 1034, 1400 Independence Ave. SW,
Washington, DC 20250-1034; tel.: (202) 720-4221; fax: (202) 690-0251.
Information about this program is also available on the FAS Web site: http://www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/foodaid/ffe/ffe.html
General information about FAS programs, resources, and services can be found
at: http://www.fas.usda.gov