Led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the two-day high-level conference is entitled, “Investing in homegrown school meals to strengthen human capital, women’s economic empowerment and contribute to economic development”. It offers a unique opportunity for participants to take stock of and shed light on school meals programmes and their impact on countries’ economic growth, food systems strengthening and women’s empowerment.
“Today, it is important to stress that benchmarks in health, nutrition and education make a considerable contribution to economic growth in the sub-region. It has been shown that the introduction of school meals programmes based on local production can, among other things reduce poverty, increase school enrolment, generate income, add value to local products, and promote community cohesion, stability and productivity,” said Professor Fatou Sow-Sarr, ECOWAS Commissioner at the conference’s opening event.
