“Local procurement” Diversifying school feeding with local production in Cape Verde Executive summary: The ”Local procurement” pilot project for school canteens, which took place from June 2012 to June 2014, aimed at diversifying school meals by systematically introducing local products such as fruits, vegetables, fish and beans in the supply chain of school canteens. This project was implemented thanks to the involvement of several partners, in the framework of United Nations’ Joint Programme “Support to Food and Nutrition Security in Schools”. The challenge consists in its gradual upscaling to all schools in the country.
Context: Cape Verde’s school canteens programme was initiated by World Food Programme (WFP) in 1979 to increase school attendance, fight food insecurity and cover the students’ nutritional needs. As Cape Verde became a middle-income country in 2008, WFP progressively withdrew and the government entirely manages the school canteens since 2010. However, the national context has changed: primary education has become universal, but the poverty rate still remains of 25% and chronic non-communicable diseases are one of the main causes of mortality in the country. Therefore, current priorities of the National School Feeding Programme are to contribute to upgrade of education quality by improving school meals’ quality, as well as to promote nutrition education, reduce poverty and stimulate the agri-food sector.
Contact:
Ana Paula Spencer, “Food and Nutrition Security in Schools” Programme Coordinator ana.spencer@ficase.gov.cv
Target population: The pilot project beneficiated all primary school pupils from 31 schools of different sizes, located in urban and rural zones, in 5 municipalities (Praia and Santa Cruz on Santiago island; São Vicente; Porto Novo and Ribeira Grande on Santo Antão island).
Stakeholders: The project was developed with the support of the United Nations, through the Joint Programme, and implemented by the Cape Verdean Foundation for Social Action in Schools (FICASE) in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sport (MED), the Ministry of Rural Development (MDR), the Ministry of Health (MS), the Ministry of Infrastructures and Maritime Economy (MIEM), the Public Acquisition Regulating Authority (ARAP), the Food and Drug Regulation Agency (ARFA) and the Business Development and Innovation Agency (ADEI).
The intervention: The “Local procurement” pilot project was carried out in three stages: June 2012-March 2013: preparation
April-June 2013: pre-test
July 2013-June 2014: pilot
Definition of procurement models
Test of procurement models in 17 schools from 3 municipalities
Implementation in 31 schools from 5 municipalities
Creation of public bidding documents compatible with the public acquisition law Definition of quality criteria Improvement of school canteen conditions Training of the actors involved
Confirmation in practical and logistical terms and adjustments before the pilot stage
Balance of good practices and constraints with stakeholders to plan the upscaling of the project.
The gradual upscaling of the pilot project to all primary schools and pre-schools of the country is being prepared.
The procurement process is carried out in several steps:
Menu
Procurement plan
Contract with supplier
Inspection
Delivery to school
- Made by nutritionists
Needs of products per student
- Public bidding at island level
- Weighing and quality control
- Delivery by supplier
- According to local production and eating habits
x Number of students per school
- Selection of suppliers and contracts
- Register
- Covers ≈ 20% of daily needs
= Weekly amount per school
- Reception at school by the canteen manager
- Inspection label
- Made by cooks according to the menu
- Distribution by teachers
- Register
Capacity building: During the project, training was provided to the following actors:
Meal
Producers and suppliers (77), about good agricultural practices and post-harvest Cooks, teachers and canteen managers (430), about healthy diet Inspectors and auditors (21), about quality standards Technicians (214), about good manufacturing practices along the food chain Jury for public bidding (6 trainings), to choose the supplier
Results: About 9000 primary school students beneficiated; purchase of approximately 48 tons of local products (20t of vegetables, 20t of fruits, 2,5t of fish and 6,5t of beans) for the supply of 31 schools in the pilot stage, for an amount of 7 million escudos (64 000 €).
Documents produced: Tender documents Local procurement guide Manual for inspectors and auditors Standard Operating Procedures for school canteens Implementation reports
Good practices
Challenges
Improvement of students’ diet
20% increase of the cost of the school meal
Training of several actors
Increased workload in schools
Improvement of school equipments
Lack of infrastructure in schools
Multiple partners and intersectoriality
Sale of unhealthy food in front of schools
Definition of quality standars for agricultural products
Lack of organization of producers
Assured market for the producers
Suppliers are not used to quality standards
Adaptation of the menu to local reality
Transport is unsuitable for fresh products
Indirect positive effects beyond the actors involved
Flaws in the monitoring system
Social recognition of producers and suppliers
Upscaling/replicability of the intervention: - Create a legal and institutional framework for the supply of canteens with local products - Ensure sustainable funding sources (including government, parents, sponsoring companies) - Validate the menu and the quality criteria in a participatory way to adapt them to local context - Create conditions in schools to receive fresh products (storage space, refrigeration equipment) - Ensure at least 3 months for planning between the signing of the contract with the supplier and the deliveries - Support producers and suppliers for their organization, access to funding and production planning - Design a monitoring and evaluation system with clear definition of stakeholders’ responsibilities - Raise awareness and train communities about healthy diets.