2020
Founded in 1990, the international solidarity association Un Enfant par la Main supports nearly 150,000 disadvantaged children and their families in community development programmes in 18 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, through child sponsorship and in close collaboration with local partners. In Madagascar, the precarious living conditions added to the food shortage period from January to April have important consequences for family income, nutrition and children’s schooling. Many children go through this period on an empty stomach and can no longer attend school as normal. Since 2019, Un Enfant par la Main has been supporting 13 schools in the Antananarivo province in collaboration with its local partner Amadea, and has enabled the setting-up of school canteens to distribute meals during the lean season.
The project: In Madagascar, the Foundation is supporting an integrated local development programme that combines the support for 200 local small farmers with improvements to 11 school canteens.
The project supported by the Foundation creates decisive interaction between schools and the agricultural sector to enhance canteens’ self-sufficiency. It relies on supporting small local agricultural producers to improve supplies to canteens, equipping canteen infrastructures and organising awareness campaigns on good hygiene and nutrition practices. The project’s success is also based on the extensive efforts of parents.
Under this programme, 200 farmers will benefit from agricultural training and equipment that will enable them to improve their income in the long term and guarantee a more regular supply to schools.
In terms of schools, the Foundation’s financial support also enables the regular nutritional and health monitoring of 200 children, carried out by a doctor and a nurse. These children will thus enjoy hot meals and snacks during the lean season. The menus will be developed in collaboration with the Malagasy National Nutrition Office (ONN), to best meet children’s daily needs.
By supporting this project, which involve many local actors and encourage short circuits, the Foundation intends to support improved food security for 1,000 pupils during the lean season, and to maintain attendance rates in schools.
