The Merenda Eskolár national school feeding programme provides daily meals to around 290,000 students in public basic schools across all 13 municipalities , nourishing children, supporting attendance and learning, and creating stable markets for Timorese farmers.
A Home-Grown Programme
Merenda Eskolár is a home-grown school feeding programme: meal plans use around 75% locally produced food, purchased from small-scale farmers and fisherfolk in each municipality. Formal contracts between local food producers and school feeding management teams give farmers predictable demand and stable income throughout the school year , so a school meal in Timor-Leste feeds a child and strengthens a rural livelihood at the same time.
Nutrition and Tradition
With the World Food Programme, the Ministry has published a school feeding recipe book of more than 65 nutritious school meals drawing on traditional Timorese food and produce grown in every municipality. School cooks and staff receive training in menu planning, budget management, nutrition and kitchen hygiene.
Partners
- World Food Programme (WFP) , technical support to menus, supply chains, kitchen infrastructure and staff training
- FAO , connecting small-scale food producers to the programme’s markets
- Government of Japan , partnership with WFP reinforcing the programme’s reach and quality
- Municipal authorities and school communities , daily management of kitchens and procurement
Learn More
Read the Merenda Eskolár recipe book and the UN feature “From farm to classroom: feeding children and supporting farmers in Timor-Leste”.