Fortified Midday Meals for government schoolchildren through centralised kitchens
Leena
Joseph
Naandi Foundation
Naandi Foundation
91 40 2355 6491
502, Trendset Towers, Road # 2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad – 500 034, Andhra Pradesh
1. We provide fortified meals to the government schoolchildren through the midday meal programme which reaches one million schoolchildren in every school working day of the year. 2. We provide food to the states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan , Orissa where malnutrition rates are alarming. We provide food to Kalahandi of Orissa which is famous for its starving deaths in the world hunger maps. There are many parts of tribal Rajasthan where children would have gone hungry, had I not been preparing a midday meal there in their schools. 3. We provide food to the tribal and remote places by climbing hillocks and crossing rivers on foot where accessibility to basic commodities is a far cry.
The first and most tangible impact we have had is the fact that lakhs of children have actually got the midday meal in school. Prior to Naandi’s provision of meals, in many of the locations there was no midday meal being provided to the schoolchildren. For many of the children now, this is the only square meal in the day for them. The Naandi team traverses extremely tough terrains to reach this food to the children. Secondly, this programme has increased attendance in schools. As there is an assured midday meal every day, parents make sure that the children go to school. Once at school, after a good meal, the child is able to learn better.
Thirdly – the fortification of the midday meal is having significant impact on nutrition status of the children. An efficacy trial is being conducted in one of Naandi’s kitchens – this will produce scientific evidence of the change in haemoglobin levels of children who are taking the fortified midday meal.
The key actions needed for making this project successful are regular provision of the midday meal to children in government schools, provision of fruits and eggs along with the main meal, fortification of the meal, ensuring strict hygiene & cleanliness standards and increasing scale of operations.
The Naandi Team works hard to make sure each of the above actions is taken. Even if payment for purchases etc is delayed by the government/donor, Naandi has never allowed the meal preparation and distribution to get disrupted – even if it means temporarily taking loan. Extremely strict norms of hygiene and cleanliness are adhered to. Standard operating procedures have been laid out in each of the 25 centralised kitchens being run by Naandi.
To reduce hunger amongst government school children
To bring down the rate of malnutrition amongst government school children
Increased enrolment and attendance in schools
Improved learning levels of children in schools
My project is successful today, in that it has succeeded in feeding 1 million children every day with a hot, hygienically cooked midday meal in school. Not only that, I am also able to fortify this meal with iron, folic acid and zinc. Over the next 3 years, I plan to expand my coverage to double the present number. I will do this by entering into MoUs with more and more city and district governments for setting up centralised midday meal kitchens.
If Government of India suspends the National Midday Meal Programme, my project will be prevented from being a success.
More than 10,000
$100 ‐ 1000
Yes
Operating for 1‐5 years
Yes
Naandi Foundation
More than 5 years
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
My organization believes in forging partnerships with governments, businesses as well as NGOs. This belief stems from the conviction that a cross-sector partnership is the one that garners the strengths of all partners, and delivers best results. Partnerships with government give our project the ability to reach out and cover millions of underprivileged people. It also gives us the official sanction of being a credible organization. Partnerships with businesses gives us visibility in the corporate sector, which in turn, increases our chances of getting technical and funding support from corporates.
(i) More and more city governments approaching Naandi Foundation to set up centralised midday meal kitchens. ii) Government decision to meet cost of fortification of midday meals (iii) Corporates coming forward to meet capital cost of midday meal kitchens in remote, tribal areas.
It started with a preliminary survey in few schools where Naandi was associated with and we found that 50% of the children in government schools come on an empty stomach. It is impossible for a child to learn anything when she is hungry. So Naandi began a school feeding programme on a small scale in a few schools in Hyderabad, with support from some corporate sponsors. It was while feeding these children in a few schools that I realised how important a good meal was, for these children, and what a rare commodity for them. Not only that, it was making a big difference to attendance percentages as well as learning levels of children. This revelation led me to this innovation. Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea. (400 words or less)
Leena Joseph is a Psychology graduate and has been an active volunteer with orphanages, old age homes, and government schools where ever she has lived. In the past she's been the National Project Convenor, for Ladies Circle and the Vice President for Ambassadors of Goodwill for Aids Patients Everywhere. Leena was awarded the 'Manava Seva Dharma Samayardhani Award' for her Social Entrepreneurship work for the Midday Meal, in 2004. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, a fabulous cook and enjoys working with children in any way she can. Today, Leena is the National Director of the Midday Meal Programme of Naandi Foundation.
Leena Joseph is a Psychology graduate and has been an active volunteer with orphanages, old age homes, and government schools where ever she has lived. In the past she's been the National Project Convenor, for Ladies Circle and the Vice President for Ambassadors of Goodwill for Aids Patients Everywhere. Leena was awarded the 'Manava Seva Dharma Samayardhani Award' for her Social Entrepreneurship work for the Midday Meal, in 2004. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, a fabulous cook and enjoys working with children in any way she can. Today, Leena is the National Director of the Midday Meal Programme of Naandi Foundation.
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