Guyana s Hinterland Community-BasedSchool Feeding Program (SFP) began in 2007 with theobjective of building more community participation inschools and improving children s human development outcomes,such as student enrollment and attendance, nutritionalstatus and learning outcomes. In addition, the programsupports improvement of schoolsorganization of primarylevel in Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9. In order to participate inthe program, schools and their associated communities arerequired to submit school feeding proposals, undergotraining in basic financial bookkeeping, food hygiene andnutritious meal preparation, using locally produced foodswhenever possible. Communities must also ensure schoolkitchens meet the requirements and guidelines of theMinistry of Health, ensuring an adequate safe-water supply.To evaluate the program, the Government of Guyana and theWorld Bank collected survey data from schools, students,teachers and parents in three rounds 2007, 2008 and 2009 inRegions 1 and 7. This report shows the findings and impactsof SFP using all survey rounds.Regions 1 and 7 arecharacterized by high poverty levels and agricultural laborintensity. Both factors highlight the potential oforganizing SFP around local producers, so that a regularsupply of low-cost food can be guaranteed to the localschools and children living in precarious conditions.Seventeen of the sixty-four schools participating in theimpact evaluation are in Region 7, and the rest are inRegion 1. Randomization for the selection of comparisongroups was not achieved, due to the participation rules.However, sample selection correction methods were used tocorrect for observable and unobservable biases.
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