Abstract: | This paper appraises Ghana's school feeding programme and the initial report on the review of the programme. The programme began in September 2005 and aims to reduce hunger and malnutrition; increase school enrolment, attendance and retention; and boost domestic food production. The paper concludes that the programme does benefit children in terms of increased school enrolment and may have helped to keep some children in school, but the programme has not positively impacted on the root causes of malnutrition and hunger among Ghana's school children. The paper argues that the assumptions on which the programme was formulated were unrealistic and resulted in both theoretical and operational difficulties with implications for the programme's sustainability. It further argues that the design of the school feeding programme was not sufficiently flexible to enable the government to cope with emergency situations such as floods and drought. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for improving the relevance and impact of the feeding programme. Bibliogr., note, sum. [Journal abstract, edited] |