An estimated 925 million people
in 2010 were undernourished.
-Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
Some Facts
While in absolute numbers the majority of the undernourished are concentrated in Asia and the Pacific (578 million), sub-Saharan Africa has the highest concentration of undernourishment (30% - compared to 16% in Asia and the Pacific). In addition, these numbers represent only those who do not meet the minimum dietary energy requirement (MDER). When considering those with micronutrient deficiencies, the affected population increases to more than 2 billion people.
What Does TABLE FOR TWO Do?
TABLE FOR TWO provides school meal programs (SMPs), also known as food for education (FFE) or school feeding programs.TFT's school meal programs are much more than food aid, with cross-cutting impacts on development. SMPs contribute to at least three of the eight Millennium Development Goals - eight time-bound development goals agreed upon by all 192 United Nations member states to achieve by 2015:
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Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- School meals provide children with much-needed calories and nutrition. These mid-day meals are often the only food children eat in the areas we work in.
- TFT funds SMPs that source the food locally to the extent possible. This creates a new market for crops, stimulating the local economy.
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Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
- The mid-day meal provides an incentive for parents to send their children to school.
- School meals have been shown to improve both the quantity and quality of education for school-aged children.
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Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
- Education acts as a gender equalizer, with an increasing number of girls attending and succeeding in school.
Criteria for Selecting Sites:
- Suffers from extreme poverty, with at least 20% of
children under the age of 5 underweight - Is politically stable
- Is capable of maintaining and reporting the
progress of the school meal program
