Abstract
Fish make an important contribution to micronutrient intake, long-chained polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFAS), and animal protein, as well as ensuring food and nutrition security and livelihoods for fishing communities. Micronutrient deficiencies are persistent in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), contributing to public health issues not only in the first 1000 days but throughout adolescence and into adulthood. School feeding programs (SFPs) and home-grown school feeding programs (HGSF), which source foods from local producers, particularly fisherfolk, offer an entry point for encouraging healthy diets and delivering essential macro- and micronutrients to schoolchildren, which are important for the continued cognitive development of children and adolescents and can contribute to the realization of sustainable development goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 3, 5, and 14. The importance of HGSF for poverty alleviation (SDG1) and zero hunger (SDG 2) have been recognized by the United Nations Hunger Task Force and the African Union Development Agency–New Partnership for African Development (AUDA-NEPAD), which formulated a strategy for HGSF to improve nutrition for the growing youth population across Africa. A scoping review was conducted to understand the lessons learned from SFPs, which included fish and fish products from small-scale producers, identifying the challenges and best practices for the inclusion of fish, opportunities for improvements across the supply chain, and gaps in nutritional requirements for schoolchildren which could be improved through the inclusion of fish. Challenges to the inclusion fish in SFPs include food safety, supply and access to raw materials, organizational capacity, and cost, while good practices include the engagement of various stakeholders in creating and testing fish products, and repurposing fisheries by-products or using underutilized species to ensure cost-effective solutions. This study builds evidence of the inclusion of nutritious fish and fish products in SFPs, highlighting the need to replicate and scale good practices to ensure sustainable, community-centred, and demand-driven solutions for alleviating poverty, malnutrition, and contributing to greater health and wellbeing in adolescence.
Highlights
Animal-source foods (ASFs), including fish and other aquatic foods, dairy, eggs, meat, and poultry are nutrient-rich and important for the diets of children and vulnerable populations [1]
The dates of publications included in this review ranged from 2001 to 2021, it is noteworthy that records of fish included in School feeding programs (SFPs) in non-sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries dated as far back as 1954 [57], demonstrating that the inclusion of fish in SFPs has been considered for many decades
SFPs included in this review were financed through various mechanisms—some were fully implemented by the national government, some were implemented through collaboration between WFP, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the national government, and others were financed or co-financed by parents and community donations of money, food, or other necessary items
Summary
Animal-source foods (ASFs), including fish and other aquatic foods, dairy, eggs, meat, and poultry are nutrient-rich and important for the diets of children and vulnerable populations [1]. Fish is rich in multiple micronutrients (vitamins A and B12, iron, and zinc) and is one of few natural dietary sources of vitamin D3, iodine, and essential fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are often lacking in the diets of vulnerable populations. It enhances the absorption of micronutrients such as iron and zinc from plant-source foods when consumed together [2]. Most recently, the State of School Feeding Worldwide has highlighted the urgent need for a paradigm shift to expand the “age-siloed” approach to child health and development beyond the first
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