CO-School meals for children rural Niger In Niger, over one million children of primary school age do not go to school. About 700,000 of them are girls. These children willgrow up without being able to read or write. It is no surprise therefore, that Niger has the world#s second-lowest adult literacy rate today. This is a significant factor contributing towards Niger being the least-developed country in the world.
A major problem that affects so many households across the Sahel and levels of education in Niger is the food crisis, brought about insufficient rainfall needed to grow crops to meet the needs of the population dependant on them for food. In the year 2015, 650,000 households were suffering from food insecurity in Niger. School-aged children are even more affected as there is not always food available for them to eat twice a day, food being essential energy needed for the journey they must make to and from school and for concentration in classes. In addition, parents who are farmers and herders are obliged to take their children out of school to help them search furtherfor pasture for their livestock.
The recurring problem of food shortages in rural Niger has resulted in a decline in productivity, low incomes for poor farmers and rural migration of pastoralists in search of better land to farm. This generates high school dropouts, low attendance and poor academic performance, jeopardising the education of children, particularly girls, and their potential toearn a living in the future.
This project will:
# Establish 35 school canteens in nomadic and semi-nomadic regions in Niger#s Sahelto encourage enrolment and retention of children in school.

# Provide up to 3050 pupils and their parents with a meal every schoolday for one academic year.

# Engage parents and School Management Committees in the management of the canteen and livelihoods support to supply the canteen and other school activities with food, bringing sustainability to the project.
This project will work to improve access to education in Niger, particularlyfor girls, fully engaging the local community and partners. This project will support the sustainability of the current Direct project being implemented in the rural areas of Tillabéry, Zinder and Agadez This will take place though a number of activitiesto support families during the hungry season in the Sahel, some of which will include:
.

1. The provision of a daily school meal.

2. The distribution of food items and cooking utensils to support the running of each school canteen.

3. Income generating activities to support the sustainability of the programme after the first year, such as keeping a herd of goats which will produce milk and cheese to  be sold, and raising animals such as poultry.

4. The establishment of school henhouse, school gardens which will provide a more varied diet and improve nutritional intake among the students.

5. Better access to quality education in pastoral and nomadic areas through capacity building and training beneficiaries in farming education such as animal husbandry.  Education on poultry farming and raising animals will introduce the children to modern farming techniques and diversify means of earning a living later on in life.

6. The programme#s reach will have a particular focus on girl students whocurrentlyhave lower school attendance rates than boys, nomadic children and vulnerable orphans. Dry rations will be supplied to the most vulnerable children in addition to school meals in order to maximise the impact of the intervention within families.