Experiences of school management teams in implementing school feeding programs in public primary schools in Nigeria during Covid-19

Abstract

The implementation of school feeding programs has been elevated to aninternational concern. The challenges of Covid-19 have intensified anddeepened discussions about the significance of school management teams inthe implementation of school feeding programs in Nigeria and around theworld. In the face of the novel Covid-19 pandemic, school feeding programsthat are intended to alleviate short-term hunger, improve learners' nutritionand cognition, and transfer income to families are being cut short. However,millions of school learners in Nigeria missed out on regular school mealsduring the lockdown, which impacted negatively their health and well-being.Using the findings of reviewed literature from over 67 publications, thepurpose of this paper was to examine the challenges that school managementteams faced in providing food to learners during the pandemic and the kind ofmanagement choices that enable them to do so even during the time of anemergency. This review was carried out to enlighten developing countries,including Nigeria, regarding the significance of taking precautions and usingalternative ways to implement school feeding programs during schoolclosures by governments and non-governmental organizations, such as theWorld Food Program (WFP).