ACED’s community-led Central Kitchen model a finalist at Asia-Pacific Solutions Forum 2023

The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) will be holding the inaugural Asia-Pacific Solutions Forum 2023 this coming 2 November 2023 in Malaysia, with the goal of recognizing innovative solutions from all over Asia that help address sustainable development challenges and issues in the ever-important areas of health, climate change, waste, hunger, food security, and more.

Among those chosen as a finalist and invited to present their sustainability solution at the said forum is the Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED)’s Community-led Central Kitchen Model for School Feeding Programs in the Philippines. As the Asia-Pacific Solutions Forum 2023 Organizers themselves put it, they were “truly impressed by the impact, spirit, and determination” of ACED’s proposed solution, and they wanted to allow ACED to share more about this particular Solutions Initiative at their event. 

ACED’s Community-led Central Kitchen Model addresses several of the UN's sustainable development goals (SDG), namely:

• SDG 1 - No Poverty
• SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
• SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 4 - Quality Education
• SDG 17 - Partnership for the goals

As early as 2009, the Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED) has been actively involved in feeding programs that serve as both an anti-hunger initiative and an educational intervention, helping address the glaring problem of hunger and malnutrition among children in public schools, to improve these students’ overall health and in turn, help with their school performance.

To better achieve this, ACED took the existing concept of school feeding programs and repositioned it as a multisectoral project by creating a new way for national government agencies, NGOs, and local government units to synergistically deliver national services, with the LGU acting as the focal point.

ACED further innovated the process through Central kitchens which enabled standardized, cost-effective food preparation and packaging to maximize resources and avoid waste. ACED’s central kitchen model also placed a greater focus on community empowerment through community ownership, with local volunteers integral to central kitchen and feeding activities.

Daily feeding operations are funded by the Department of Education (DepEd) under the budget for school-based feeding programs which is at Php 20 per child as of SY 2019-2020. This budget is ensured through Republic Act 11037, referred to as the National Feeding Program (NFP) Law.  Additionally, the LGUs provide funding support for overhead expenses of the program.

The problem that ACED’s proposed solution seeks to solve is the need for an effective and sustainable mechanism for addressing hunger among children, specifically those in the day-care centers and those enrolled in Philippine public schools. The high incidence of malnutrition and hunger among these children prevent them from successfully completing their studies which is envisioned to be the path out of poverty. 

Multisectoral coordination among schools, parents, the community, LGUs, NGAs, and NGOs has been found to be crucial to meeting the following objectives of the said program:

1. To strengthen the program to scale up nationally, develop an effective and sustainable large-scale comprehensive feeding program that can reach all malnourished children in public elementary schools in the Philippines
2. To provide access to quality food, change dietary habits, and improve health and education outcomes 
   • To reduce rates of malnutrition, stunting, and wasting among participating children
   • To lay a foundation for lifelong healthy eating based on favorable experiences, the acquisition of sufficient skills, and confidence in one’s capacity to practice a healthy lifestyle
3. To encourage maximum community support for the feeding program and empower the school community and other stakeholders to take the lead role in the program
4. To encourage a whole-of-society approach through multisectoral investments to improve the health and well-being of students and their families

What is the future of a malnourished child? How can a hungry child learn? The Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED) firmly believes that no child deserves to go to sleep hungry and that boosting their nutritional state provides these children a better chance at completing their education and living a productive life. Hunger and malnutrition among children are wicked problems that keep them away from a good future. Addressing these sustainably in a manner that does not compromise the future is meaningful.

Photos courtesy of ACED.