From 28 to 30 August, the government of Togo conducted a workshop to discuss the first draft of the country’s school feeding law. A committee of lawmakers from key ministries involved in implementing school feeding in the country prepared a draft of the bill. The workshop aimed to bring together the main stakeholders of school feeding in the country to gather their comments on the bill and improve the proposed text.
Representatives from Togolese government ministries, traditional leaders, representatives of civil society organizations, the World Food Programme and the Centre of Excellence against Hunger participated in the event. The first draft of the bill was completed during the workshop and will be forwarded to the president’s appreciation. Subsequently, the bill must pass a preliminary examination by stakeholders from multiple sectors, so that the various ministries involved can provide their comments and suggestions. The government will then send the recast document to the Togolese National Assembly for consideration.
Context
In 2014, a delegation from the government of Togo conducted a study visit to Brazil, organized by the WFP Centre of Excellence, to learn about the Brazilian home-grown school feeding experience.
In November 2016, with the support of the WFP Centre of Excellence, the government of Togo held the first national forum on school feeding. Around 300 people participated in the event, including national school feeding stakeholders and representatives from Brazil, Benin, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, and Senegal. One of the recommendations of the forum was for the government of Togo to adopt a school feeding law that would ensure a legal framework and facilitate the implementation of a national school feeding programme.
The workshop to discuss the bill was attended by about 30 people who, in addition to commenting on the text of the proposed law, discussed the pertinence of the provisions of the law, drafted law enforcement texts and drafted a document with the exposition of motives for adopting the law.
Participants of the school feeding workshop. Photo: WFP
The document with the justification for adopting the school feeding law highlights the role of school feeding as a means of promoting food and nutritional security and strengthening the country’s education system. The document also recognizes the contribution of school feeding to the strengthening of local agriculture.
The process of developing the school feeding law in Togo is being led by the Ministry of Local Development, with the participation of other ministries such as Education, Health and Finance. The WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger and the WFP country office support the initiative.
