WFO presented its recently adopted Position Paper on School Meal Programmes to H.E. Janja Lula Da Silva, First Lady of Brazil, at Rome Nutrition Week 2026.

At Rome Nutrition Week 2026, on the margins the session “Scaling Nutrition Through Inclusive, Diverse, and Local School Meals,“ Cristina Chirico, Head of International Affairs at CIA-Agricoltori Italiani and Facilitator of the WFO Working Group on Food Security, presented the WFO’s recently adopted Position Paper, “Harnessing School Meal Programmes for a Farmer-Led Path to Food and Nutrition Security“ to H.E. Janja Lula Da Silva, First Lady of Brazil.

For the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO), school meal programmes are far more than a nutrition intervention. They are simultaneously an agriculture, education, and rural development policy. The Position Paper calls for school meals to be recognised as one of the strongest intersections between nutrition, education, agriculture, and territorial development: an opportunity to rebuild the link between younger generations and food production, create stable markets for farmers, and strengthen rural communities.

Persistent challenges continue to limit farmers’ effective participation in school meal programmes, including procurement barriers, payment delays, bureaucratic processes, and infrastructure gaps. WFO calls for fair and transparent procurement systems, timely payments, simplified procedures, and greater inclusion of farmers’ organisations and cooperatives — alongside targeted investment in infrastructure, training, and cooperative models that help small-scale farmers supply schools consistently and at scale.

When school meals are built around local and seasonal sourcing, they can create stable and predictable markets for farmers, stimulate rural economies, and support women and youth participation in agricultural value chains. Nutrition-sensitive menus sourced locally also help reconnect children and communities with food production, rebuilding the link between nutrition and agriculture for younger generations.

Farmers and their organisations have a contribution to make inside school environments too — through school gardens, farm visits, food and nutrition education, and the transmission of local agricultural knowledge. These activities reinforce the role of farmers in supporting communities and rural livelihoods, while strengthening the connection between global policy dialogues and realities on the ground.

Experiences from Brazil, Kenya, India, and Finland already demonstrate what is possible when these connections are made deliberately: improved nutrition outcomes, stronger educational performance, and more resilient rural communities — replicable models that WFO believes should inform policy design at national and international levels.

Connecting farms to classrooms means building more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems for the future.

WFO’s Position Paper on School Meal Programmes is available HERE

Cover photo: ©WFO