USDA Awards $20 million to Planet Aid for Mozambique Education and Child Nutrition Programs - Planet Aid, Inc.

Planet Aid received a $20 million award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide food aid, education and nutrition programs in Mozambique. Under USDA's McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition programs, Planet Aid together with its in-country implementing agency, ADPP Mozambique (ADPP), will launch a three-year, multi-faceted program to include health, nutrition, and educational development initiatives to benefit students, teachers, parents, and community members.

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Beginning in 2013, a primary component of the program will provide daily school meals to 60,000 children in Maputo province - totaling 34.2 million meals over three years. To increase local knowledge of the value of good nutrition and its impact on positive learning outcomes and childhood education overall, Planet Aid and ADPP, in partnership with American Soybean Association's WISHH program (The World Initiative for Soy in Human Health), will train 1 million Mozambicans in nutrition.

The education component of the Planet Aid and ADPP program will focus on training more than 4,000 primary school teachers. Training will include courses in nutrition, community health practices, and small-scale agricultural and economic development techniques. Upon graduation, the teachers will reach 264,000 primary school students each year. This component of the program includes a considerable cost share by the Government of Mozambique.

To complement the education, nutrition and school-feeding aspects, Planet Aid and ADPP will also carry out other initiatives to address critical community needs. All schools in the program will be equipped with necessary kitchen and storage space. Schools currently without a dependable water source will receive a potable water supply, and some schools will deploy point-of-use water purification systems for the duration of the program. To instruct students and the local communities in agricultural practices, selected schools will establish a school garden. To ensure proper sanitation, all schools in the program will receive newly-constructed or upgraded latrines as necessary.

Read more about the other projects and programs we support in Mozambique.