MOZAMBIQUE SCHOOL LUNCH INITIATIVE

Spokane, Washington, 99223 United States

Mission Statement

The Mozambique School Lunch Initiative's (MSLI) mission is to improve the nutrition and education of children in rural Mozambique. MSLI serves daily school meals in primary schools in impoverished rural communities in Mozambique to increase students' nutritional uptake and their ability to participate in school. For most of these children, the school lunch is their first and main meal of the day, filling a critical gap in their nutrition. The school lunches also incentivize regular attendance and enable the students to focus in class and learn more. Additionally, MSLI aims to tackle the root causes of child malnutrition in Mozambique by investing in the agricultural production of smallholder farming families in the communities where it serves school lunches. By working with MSLI, these farmers gain access to investment for seeds, irrigation equipment, and tractor services, which allows them to greatly increase their production. They then have more food to consume at home, as well as a surplus that they can sell to MSLI's school lunch program.

About This Cause

The Mozambique School Lunch Initiative (MSLI) was founded in 2016 by a team of Mozambican and American colleagues who share a passion for child nutrition and improving the opportunities of rural communities in Mozambique. MSLI's school meals provide, on average, over half of children's weekly protein needs and many other nutrients. School meals are also proven to boost school enrollment, retainment, and learning. MSLI is innovative in the way that it sources the food for its school meals, using a "home-grown" model that emphasizes local procurement. Recognizing that low agricultural productivity is a driving cause of food insecurity and hunger for rural families in Mozambique, MSLI invests in local farmer groups and facilitates training and access to key agricultural inputs, like tractor services, seeds, and small scale irrigation equipment. This enables farmers to greatly increase their production, supplying nutritious crops to the school lunch program, selling to their neighbors, and consuming at home. This is integral to reducing the prevalence of children going to school hungry in the first place and benefits local farming families at the same time as it provides for the school lunch program.

MOZAMBIQUE SCHOOL LUNCH INITIATIVE
5105 S. Park Lane
Spokane, Washington 99223
United States
Phone 5095706618
Unique Identifier 813821031