Factors associated with the purchase of family farming products for national school feeding program in Minas Gerais in 2017, Brazil

ABSTRACT: The National School Feeding Program (in abbreviated Portuguese: PNAE) states that ≥30% of the amount transferred by the National Fund for Education Development (in abbreviated Portuguese: FNDE) to the executing entities should be used to purchase products made from Family Farming (FF). This study aimed to identify the municipal characteristics associated with the compliance of the municipalities of Minas Gerais (MG) to this target in 2017. For this, data on municipal purchases of FF for the PNAE were obtained from the FNDE’s website. Sociodemographic, economic, and agricultural characteristics of the municipalities were associated with compliance to the PNAE’s goal. Approximately half (55.07%) of the municipalities complied with the FF purchase target, wherein carrying out programs or actions to encourage organic agriculture (29.8% vs. 22.6%, p=0.018) were associated with a greater compliance to this target, presenting the official rural union registration (76.4% vs. 68.8%, p=0.026) and the Municipal Inspection Service: (35.6% vs. 29.1%, p=0.048). Overall, a low compliance to the goal was observed in MG municipalities, and associations between certain agricultural management characteristics and goal fulfillment were evidenced.

Supporting the Bidding Decisions of Smallholder Farmers in Public Calls in Brazil

In Brazil, the National School Feeding Program (PNAE) seeks to contribute to the socio-economic development of smallholder farmers, prioritizing them in supplying their products for preparing daily meals in public schools. However, farmers face challenges in determining which school calls to bid for and the potential benefits from their participation, due to the multiple quantitative and qualitative decision criteria involved. This paper presents a novel Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-based method for bidding priority setting, to support the decision making. The model was applied for a case study in Brazil. The academic contribution lies in the innovation of using a Double-Frontier Slack-Based Measure (SBM) DEA model for Hierarchical Network systems, i.e., applied to multiple levels and followed by a tie-breaking method. The practical contribution lies in the decision support of farmers by presenting the results at three levels, the first of which is a ranking by the town or urban cluster priority, the second by the school, and the third by the products. Thus, using the rankings of calls, farmers can make informed decisions regarding the feasibility of bidding for each PNAE public call. At the same time, the objective rankings can alleviate friction and conflict within co-operatives during the decision-making process.

Use of modified composite index of anthropometric failure and MUAC-for-age to assess prevalence of malnutrition among school-age children and adolescents involved in the school feeding program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background Malnutrition hampers educational performance of schoolchildren coming from low-income families. School feeding program was, thus, launched in public primary schools in Addis Ababa very recently. It is, thus, important to measure the initial nutritional status of participating students to see the effect of the program on their nutritional wellbeing. Methods The first-round survey was made at the initiation of the program. A multi-stage stratified sampling from 50 schools located in the ten sub cities of Addis Ababa yielded 4500 children and adolescents of ages five to 19 years. Data was collected on age, height, weight and MUAC of the schoolchildren. Nutritional status was evaluated using conventional anthropometric indicators, modified Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (mCIAF), and MUAC-for-age. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to examine classification of malnourishment by MUAC-for-age versus BMI-for-age and mCIAF versus MUAC-for-age. Multilevel mixed effects model was applied to investigate variations in the prevalence of malnutrition across sub cities. Findings The area under the ROC curves (AUC) for MUAC-for-age against BMI-for-age z-scores was 0.68 and that of mCIAF against MUAC-for-age was 0.70, respectively, indicating an overall better classification of malnourishment. Mixed effects model showed significant variations in nutritional status of schoolchildren across sub cities. Conventional measures showed that prevalence of stunting, thinness, or underweight among the sample children and adolescents was 23.4, 18.4, and 16.5%, respectively. Assessment by mCIAF, instead, showed a higher prevalence of overall malnutrition (43.4%). MUAC-for-age indicated an acute malnutrition measurement of 33.4%. Significant differences (p < 0.0001) in nutritional status were seen between boys and girls, and among age groups as measured by mCIAF. Interpretation Conventional measures of nutritional status undermined level of malnutrition. Instead, mCIAF and MUAC-for-age gave higher estimates of the magnitude of the existing prevalence of malnutrition among the school children and adolescents.

Opinion of family farmers on organic food supply to the Brazilian National School Feeding Program - a case study

Objective: To investigate the opinion of family farmers about the supply of organic food to the National School Feeding Program (PNAE) in the state of Paraná, Brazil. Method: The convenience sample consisted of 44 family farmers from nine cooperatives and associations located in eight different mesoregions of the state of Paraná that supplied organic food to the PNAE. An online survey was conducted to evaluate the farmers' opinion on possible changes in the cooperatives' revenue and organization; diversification and production increase; difficulties in commercialization; increase in income, and improvement in food consumption after supplying to the PNAE. Results: According to the farmers’ opinion, there was better organization (100%) and an increase in the cooperatives' revenue and production (86.36%), after supplying to the PNAE. 75% of the farmers diversified their crops and 52.3% reported an increase of up to 25% in their family income. In addition, it was reported a better acceptance of the school feeding, diversification in the family's diet, improved self-esteem, closeness between producers and consumers, and the return of family members to the rural property. Conclusion: In the opinion of family farmers, PNAE has been fulfilling its role as a promoter of Food and Nutritional Security in the development of healthy habits, besides contributing to the increase in family income and promoting local sustainable development, following the World Health Organization's agenda.

1090The Brazilian farm-to-school regulatory policy: local governance correlates

Background We explored whether local governance tools related to participatory democracy were associated with a better implementation of a farm-to-school regulation, which states that 30% of procured foods for the Brazilian National School Feeding Program (BNSFP) must come from family farming. Methods Longitudinal study with data on federal transfers to all Brazilian municipalities (n = 5.570) for the BNSFP from 2011 to 2017. The outcome was the percentage of those transfers used to procure foods from family farming. Participatory democracy measures included the presence of sectoral school feeding program councils and adherence to the National Food and Nutrition Security System (NFNS). Models were adjusted for total federal transfers to support family farming; the importance of federal transfers to the local economy; changes in land coverage devoted to family farming; municipal gross domestic product, and population size. We employed year and municipality fixed-effect linear models with clustered standard errors at the state level. Results Procurement from family farming rose from 16.5% [95%CI 16.0,17.0] in 2011 to 32.2% [95%CI 31.0, 33.5] in 2017. The presence of local sectoral school feeding program councils and local adherence to the NFNS were associated with a greater increase in the percentage of foods procured from family farming. Conclusions Local participatory democracy was associated with a better implementation of the farm-to-school regulation in Brazil. Key message Local participatory democracy measures influenced the implementation of the Brazilian national farm-to-school regulation. Our findings can help inform similar policies in other countries.

Evaluation of quality indicators for management of the National School Feeding Program in Brazil: a systematic review

This article aims to identify studies that developed quality indicator for the management of the National School Feeding Program (PNAE, in Brazilian context) and to critically appraise the properties of their instruments. Systematic review using Scopus, Lilacs, Pubmed and Web of Science for data collection. The search was limited to studies between 2009 and 2019. The search strategy included search terms related to school feeding, program evaluation, and indicator. The indicators were evaluated using the Appraisal of Indicators through Research and Evaluation instrument. The search identified 1,355 studies, of which 14 were potentially relevant records and 10 met the inclusion criteria. Most studies used a literature review with consensus techniques in the development of the instrument and a frame work format to evaluate the PNAE. None of them presented evidence of validity of the instrument. The highest level was achieved on the domain ‘Purpose, relevance and organizational context’, followed by ‘Stakeholder involvement’, ‘Additional evidence, formulation and usage’, and ‘Scientific evidence’. This review found gaps in the methodology of studies that had developed quality indicators for the management of PNAE. Future development of these instruments should include validity evidence.

Intergenerational nutrition benefits of India’s national school feeding program

India has the world’s highest number of undernourished children and the largest school feeding program, the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme. As school feeding programs target children outside the highest-return “first 1000-days” window, they have not been included in the global agenda to address stunting. School meals benefit education and nutrition in participants, but no studies have examined whether benefits carry over to their children. Using nationally representative data on mothers and their children spanning 1993 to 2016, we assess whether MDM supports intergenerational improvements in child linear growth. Here we report that height-for-age z-score (HAZ) among children born to mothers with full MDM exposure was greater (+0.40 SD) than that in children born to non-exposed mothers. Associations were stronger in low socioeconomic strata and likely work through women’s education, fertility, and health service utilization. MDM was associated with 13–32% of the HAZ improvement in India from 2006 to 2016.

Developing a corrective diet for schoolchildren with zinc deficiency

An important condition for creating a full-fledged school feeding program is an individual correction of rations based on a survey of the actual nutrition of children and the indicators of their metabolism established by clinical laboratory methods, as well as the provision of basic nutrients. This paper analyzes a typical cyclical school menu for the zinc provision and compliance of its nutritional and energy value with the declared standards. The calculation of an afternoon snack and dinner values for schoolchildren of 7–11 years old, providing the daily requirements for basic substances, has been carried out. The corrective diet was aimed at meeting the daily requirement of the pupil's body for zinc. Such a diet is aimed at preventing functional disorders of the immune system, chronic diseases of the lungs and bronchi, and developmental delays in children. English version of the article on pp. 480-484 is available at URL: https://panor.ru/articles/development-of-a-corrective-diet-for-school-children-with-zinc-deficiency/66219.html