Abstract
Elisabetta Aurino⇑, Aulo Gelli, Clement Adamba, Isaac Osei-Akoto and Harold Alderman Research fellow at the Department of Economics and Public Policy, Imperial College London (UK). Senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (US). Research fellow at the School of Education and Leadership, University of Ghana (Ghana). Senior research fellow at the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research at the University of Ghana (Ghana). Senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (US). Corresponding author: Aurino. Email: e.aurino{at}imperial.ac.uk
Highlights
Average learning levels for primary school pupils in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are dismal: for instance, only 40 percent of students in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) master basic literacy and numeracy at the end of primary school (World Bank 2018)
Most countries globally invest in providing food at school as a social protection strategy to enhance children’s education and health, yet experimental evidence on government programs is limited
Understanding whether large-scale, government-led school feeding is effective in raising human capital, and whether it enhances achievements for marginalized learner groups, is a critical policy question and evidence gap in order to prioritize competing intervention options available to resource-constrained governments
Summary
Average learning levels for primary school pupils in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are dismal: for instance, only 40 percent of students in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) master basic literacy and numeracy at the end of primary school (World Bank 2018). Treatment effects among children living in the northern regions, the country's most disadvantaged areas, and for children from households below the poverty line at baseline ranged between 0.25 s.d. and 0.3 s.d. across all scores These findings are likely to correspond to lower bounds of potential effects, as program take-up was imperfect and implementation challenges were present. Our paper complements the study by Chakraborty and Jayaraman (2019) by providing evidence of the learning effects of government-led school feeding in LMICs. By exploiting staggered program implementation, Chakraborty and Jayaraman’s study identified moderate and positive average effects of the Indian “midday-meals” scheme on math and reading.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
