Sustainable Financing Initiative

The Sustainable Financing Initiative for School Health and Nutrition (SFI) is an initiative of the School Meals Coalition, led by the Learning Generation Initiative (LGI) at Education Development Center (EDC). It works with governments and donors to help countries identify multi-year financing opportunities for school meal programmes with a particular focus on low- and lower-middle-income countries (LICs & LMICs). It does this through research and analysis, direct country support and raising the financing of school meals on the global agenda.

As financial pressures on governments mount, there is a danger that school meal programmes will not reach those who need them the most. That would represent a major setback for the SDGs. An expansion of school meal programmes helps accelerate progress in education, nutrition, child health, social protection, and poverty reduction and rural livelihoods. There is therefore now an urgent need to identify sustainable financing opportunities for school meal programmes, particularly in the low-and lower-middle-income countries where these programmes are most needed. 

• Conducting fiscal space analyses: This will analyse financial performance, national resources, general and/or earmarked funding to specific sectors and to education and school meals. It will examine the performance of public expenditure, national budget cycles and disbursement mechanisms, timeliness, and efficiency. It will assess the prioritization of government resources and potential for expanding fiscal space and identify priority options for increased spending on school meals.  
• Conducting full costing analyses: This will calculate the full costs of a quality national school meal programme including food, management, procurement, monitoring, and capacity strengthening. Analyses will identify potential cost reductions and national resources to cover the costs of school meals, and the funding gaps that would need to be addressed by the government or partners.  
• Development and facilitation of national financing strategies: This will identify sources of possible financing including revenues, innovative mechanisms and/or parental contributions to fill the funding gaps. SFI will engage with ministries of finance, planning, parliamentarians and their committees, and other relevant stakeholders to develop realistic options that will contribute to a sustainable financing strategy.  
• Facilitating dialogues and discussions around financing for school meal programmes: To raise the profile and encourage greater engagement on financing of school meals, the SFI can work with the government and local partners to facilitate stakeholder engagement and policy dialogues on school meal financing, involving international and local donors. 

In its initial phase (2021-2022), the SFI conducted scoping research on national, donor, international, and private sector financing. The initial findings were summarized in the 2022 research paper "School Meals Programmes and the Education Crisis: A Financial Landscape Analysis" and a Policy Brief, outlining current investments, challenges, and policy solutions. Seven country case-studies (Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Guatemala, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania) provided insights into financing patterns and challenges. Key findings highlighted strong government commitment, efforts to increase self-reliance, partial coverage of children, and diverse financing options (e.g., general revenues, SDG bonds, earmarked taxes). 

The initiative also developed promising financing options for the Investment Case for School Health and Nutrition paper, contributing to discussions at the Global Education Forum and the UN Transforming Education Summit in 2022. In July 2023, the SFI published “School Meal Programmes: A missing link in food systems reform” to advocate for integrating school meals into food systems reform efforts.