Deadline: 30-Jun-2026
The World Food Programme has launched a Call for Expression of Interest for partners to support the implementation of a school feeding programme in Sierra Leone. The programme aims to improve children’s access to nutritious meals, strengthen education outcomes, support local smallholder producers, and promote community-based food systems.
The initiative is aligned with Sierra Leone’s National School Feeding Policy and focuses on home-grown school feeding, nutrition, education, livelihoods, WASH, capacity building and community engagement. Selected partners will support food procurement, distribution, meal preparation, nutrition awareness and implementation reporting.
Programme Overview
The World Food Programme School Feeding Programme in Sierra Leone supports children’s access to daily nutritious meals while encouraging school attendance, learning and community participation.
The Call for Expression of Interest seeks partners to help implement school feeding activities in targeted schools and communities.
The programme combines education, nutrition, livelihoods and local food systems to improve child wellbeing and support national development priorities.
Main Objective
The main objective of the programme is to ensure that children in Sierra Leone have access to nutritious school meals that support education, health and learning outcomes.
The programme also aims to strengthen local food systems by linking school feeding with smallholder agriculture and community-based food supply chains.
Key Focus Areas
The programme supports several connected development areas.
Key focus areas include:
- Cross-sectoral training
- Capacity building and capacity development
- General education
- Learning outcomes
- School meals
- Livelihoods
- Co-existence with local communities
- Community mobilisation
- Smallholder agricultural market support
- Nutrition
- WASH
- Basic sanitation
- Hygiene
- Environmental awareness
Background and Context
Sierra Leone continues to face major challenges related to food insecurity, poverty, malnutrition and education outcomes.
These challenges have been shaped by past crises, economic pressures and environmental difficulties.
School feeding has served as an important safety net in Sierra Leone since 1991. It helps children participate in primary education while receiving a daily minimum healthy diet.
By providing meals at school, the programme helps reduce hunger during the school day and supports children’s ability to attend, concentrate and learn.
Home-Grown School Feeding Model
The programme aims to strengthen Sierra Leone’s home-grown school feeding model.
Home-grown school feeding means that food used for school meals is produced and processed by local smallholder producers where possible.
This model supports both children and local communities by:
- Providing nutritious meals to students
- Creating demand for locally produced food
- Supporting smallholder farmers
- Strengthening local agricultural markets
- Improving access to diverse diets
- Connecting education with community food systems
Alignment with National Policy
The programme is aligned with Sierra Leone’s National School Feeding Policy.
This policy promotes the use of locally produced and locally processed food in school feeding programmes.
The initiative supports collaboration between school feeding activities and smallholder agricultural marketing efforts.
This approach helps improve access to diverse, safe and nutritious diets while supporting local livelihoods.
National Programme Leadership
The School Feeding Programme is a national initiative led by:
- The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education
- The National School Feeding Secretariat
The World Food Programme supports implementation in selected districts and schools.
Current WFP Support
WFP currently supports the school feeding programme across five districts in Sierra Leone.
The programme reaches:
- 1,204 pre-primary and primary schools
- Approximately 260,000 children
- Daily hot meals for participating students
This support helps improve access to education, nutrition and school participation for children in vulnerable communities.
Who Can Participate?
The Call for Expression of Interest is intended for organisations that can support the implementation of school feeding activities in Sierra Leone.
Potential partners should have the capacity to work with schools, communities, local producers and programme stakeholders.
Eligible or suitable partners may include organisations with experience in:
- School feeding implementation
- Food procurement and distribution
- Nutrition programming
- Education support
- Community mobilisation
- Smallholder agriculture
- WASH and hygiene promotion
- Capacity building
- Programme monitoring and reporting
- Local development work
Role of Selected Partners
Selected partners will support the delivery of school feeding activities at the school and community level.
Their role may include:
- Procuring food commodities
- Distributing food commodities to schools
- Supporting preparation of daily school meals
- Ensuring meals are provided to participating children
- Engaging school communities
- Promoting nutrition awareness
- Supporting community participation
- Reporting on programme implementation
- Documenting challenges, progress and achievements
Expected Activities
Selected partners will be expected to implement practical activities that support safe, reliable and nutritious school feeding.
These activities may include:
- Planning food supply and delivery
- Coordinating with schools and community stakeholders
- Ensuring timely food distribution
- Supporting safe food storage
- Assisting with meal preparation systems
- Promoting sanitation and hygiene practices
- Supporting nutrition education
- Tracking implementation progress
- Preparing reports for WFP and programme stakeholders
Nutrition and Education Benefits
School feeding programmes help address both hunger and education barriers.
For children, school meals can support:
- Improved school attendance
- Better concentration in class
- Reduced short-term hunger
- Improved access to nutritious food
- Stronger participation in learning
- Support for vulnerable households
For schools and communities, the programme can strengthen relationships between education systems, local food producers and community groups.
Livelihood and Local Market Benefits
The home-grown school feeding model can also support livelihoods.
By linking school meal programmes with local food production, the initiative can help:
- Create market opportunities for smallholder farmers
- Increase demand for local agricultural products
- Support local food processing
- Strengthen community food systems
- Encourage local economic activity
- Improve access to diverse and nutritious foods
This makes the programme both an education intervention and a local development strategy.
WASH and Hygiene Components
The programme also includes WASH and environmental considerations.
WASH stands for water, sanitation and hygiene.
In the context of school feeding, WASH is important because safe meals require clean preparation, safe storage and hygienic serving practices.
Relevant WASH activities may include:
- Promoting basic sanitation
- Encouraging handwashing
- Supporting hygiene awareness
- Improving safe food handling
- Strengthening school-level cleanliness
- Reducing risks linked to poor sanitation
How the Programme Works
The programme works through cooperation between national education authorities, WFP, selected partners, schools, communities and local food systems.
Step 1: Partner Selection
WFP identifies suitable partners through the Call for Expression of Interest.
Partners are expected to demonstrate relevant capacity, experience and ability to implement school feeding activities effectively.
Step 2: Coordination with Schools and Authorities
Selected partners coordinate with schools, communities, WFP and national programme stakeholders.
This helps ensure that school feeding activities are aligned with national policy and local needs.
Step 3: Food Procurement and Distribution
Partners support procurement and distribution of food commodities to schools.
Where relevant, this may involve linking school feeding with locally produced and processed food.
Step 4: Daily Meal Preparation
The programme supports the preparation and provision of daily hot meals for children in participating pre-primary and primary schools.
Meal preparation should follow safe food handling, nutrition and hygiene standards.
Step 5: Community Engagement
Partners engage school communities to support nutrition awareness, local participation and shared responsibility for the programme.
Community engagement helps strengthen trust, accountability and long-term sustainability.
Step 6: Monitoring and Reporting
Selected partners report on programme implementation, challenges and achievements.
Reporting helps track progress, identify operational issues and improve programme delivery.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Applicants should avoid the following mistakes:
- Failing to show experience in school feeding or related programming
- Ignoring the link between school meals and local food systems
- Providing weak information on food procurement and distribution capacity
- Not addressing nutrition awareness
- Overlooking WASH, sanitation and hygiene needs
- Failing to explain community engagement methods
- Submitting unclear implementation plans
- Not showing capacity to report challenges and achievements
- Ignoring the role of smallholder agricultural markets
- Treating school feeding only as food delivery rather than a broader education and nutrition intervention
Tips for a Strong Expression of Interest
A strong Expression of Interest should:
- Clearly show experience in school feeding or food assistance
- Demonstrate capacity to procure and distribute food safely
- Explain how the organisation will work with schools and communities
- Show understanding of Sierra Leone’s National School Feeding Policy
- Highlight links with smallholder producers where relevant
- Include strong nutrition and WASH considerations
- Explain how implementation will be monitored
- Demonstrate ability to report progress and challenges
- Show practical knowledge of local operating conditions
- Emphasise child wellbeing, education outcomes and community impact
Why This Programme Matters
The WFP-supported School Feeding Programme in Sierra Leone matters because it addresses several development challenges at once.
It helps children access nutritious meals, supports school participation and strengthens local food systems.
It also contributes to national priorities by connecting education, nutrition, agriculture, livelihoods and community development.
For vulnerable families, school meals can reduce pressure on household food needs while encouraging children to remain in school.
FAQ
1. What is the WFP Call for Expression of Interest in Sierra Leone?
It is a call for partners to support the implementation of a school feeding programme in Sierra Leone, including food procurement, distribution, meal preparation, community engagement and reporting.
2. What is the main goal of the school feeding programme?
The main goal is to improve children’s access to nutritious meals while supporting education, learning outcomes, nutrition and community-based food systems.
3. Who leads the national school feeding programme?
The programme is led by the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and the National School Feeding Secretariat, with support from the World Food Programme.
4. How many children does WFP currently support through school feeding in Sierra Leone?
WFP currently supports daily hot meals for approximately 260,000 children across 1,204 pre-primary and primary schools in five districts.
5. What is home-grown school feeding?
Home-grown school feeding is an approach that uses locally produced and processed food for school meals. It supports children’s nutrition while creating market opportunities for local smallholder producers.
6. What activities will selected partners support?
Selected partners may support procurement and distribution of food commodities, preparation of daily school meals, nutrition awareness, community engagement and implementation reporting.
7. What focus areas are included in the programme?
The programme includes education, school meals, nutrition, WASH, hygiene, capacity building, livelihoods, community mobilisation and smallholder agricultural market support.
Conclusion
The WFP Call for Expression of Interest for Sierra Leone’s School Feeding Programme offers an important opportunity for partners to support children’s nutrition, education and wellbeing.
By strengthening home-grown school feeding, the programme links school meals with local agriculture, community development and national education goals.
Selected partners will play a key role in delivering daily meals, engaging communities, supporting local food systems and helping children across Sierra Leone access the nutrition they need to learn and thrive.
For more information, visit UN Partner Portal.