Summary
A modelling analysis using student data from five sub-Saharan African countries found that nutritious school meals were associated with longer enrolment and higher projected lifetime earnings.
A modelling analysis of primary-school students in five sub-Saharan African countries links nutritious school meals with longer school enrolment and higher projected lifetime earnings. The result suggests that feeding programmes may have economic effects extending beyond their immediate nutritional role.
What the model found
The analysis used data from Mozambique and four other sub-Saharan African countries to examine enrolment trends. It compared children who received nutritious meals at school with those who did not.
According to the reported modelling, students with access to school meals stayed enrolled for longer. The model then associated the additional time in education with greater potential earnings over the course of their lives.
The finding is a projection rather than a direct measurement of the participants’ adult incomes. Its central result is that school feeding and longer enrolment move together in the analysis, with the model translating that relationship into a lifetime-earnings estimate.
Why the result matters
School meals are often evaluated as nutrition or attendance programmes. This analysis frames them also as a possible long-term economic intervention. Keeping children enrolled for longer can increase their time in education, creating more opportunity for the skills and qualifications that influence later work and income.
That connection matters in countries where the cost of food can affect whether children attend school consistently. A programme delivered through schools can support participation while providing food during the school day. The model therefore treats the benefits of feeding programmes as extending beyond the meal itself.
The result does not assign a single income increase to every child. Projected earnings depend on how the model connects enrolment duration with later economic outcomes, as well as on conditions in the countries represented in the analysis. The supplied report presents the direction of the modelled relationship, rather than a numerical effect size.
The evidence covers five African nations, including Mozambique, so the findings are most directly relevant to the settings represented in the dataset. Differences in programme design, school access and local labour markets could affect how the relationship applies across countries.