The McGovern–Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (McGovern-Dole program) helps support education, child development, and food 
security for some of the world’s poorest children. It provides for donations of U.S. agricultural products, as well as financial and technical assistance, for school feeding 
and maternal and child nutrition projects in low-income, food-deficit countries that are committed to universal education.
The McGovern-Dole program was originally authorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. The legislation called for the use of $100 million in 
Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds to launch the program in fiscal year 2003, with future funding coming from Congressional appropriators. The program was 
reauthorized in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. That legislation provides for the use of $84 million in CCC funds and allows for annual Congressional 
appropriations, which has been approximately $100 million annually in recent years. The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign 
Agricultural Service and is named in honor of Ambassador and former Senator George McGovern and former Senator Robert Dole for their tireless efforts to encourage a 
global commitment to school feeding and child nutrition.
Midline survey for the USDA mcGovern-dole
school feeding project in Cambodia
1. Introduction..........................................................................................1
 The World Food Programme in Cambodia, 2011 - 2016
 USDA/WFP Partnership
2. Methodology........................................................................................2
3. Improved Literacy of School Age Children...............................4
 Improved Quality of Literacy Instruction
 Improved Attentiveness
 Improved Attendance
4. Increased Use of Health and Dietary Practices......................13
 Increased Knowledge of Health and Hygiene Practices
 Increased Knowledge of Safe Food Preparation and Storage
 Increased Knowledge of Nutrition
 Increased Access to Clean Water and Sanitation
 Increased Access to Preventative Health Interventions
 Increased Access to Requisite Food Preparation and Storage Tools 
 and Equipement
5. USDA MGD/WFP Project Achievements.................................16
6. Programme Theory Evaluation Conclusions..........................17
 Progress in improving literacy: Successes and remaining obstacles
 Progress in improving health and dietary practices: Successes and
 remaining obstacles
7. Annexes for USDA MGD Midline Survey.................................18
 Strategic Objective 1: Improve Literacy of School Age Children
 Strategic Objective 2: Increase Use of Health and Dietary Practices
 USDA Midline Survey Methodology
 Socieconomic Characteristics of Midline Survey Respondents 
 Food and Nutrition Security Situation
Table of Contents
The World Food Programme in Cambodia, 2011 - 2016
In support of national efforts to address food insecurity, poverty 
and malnutrition, the World Food Programme (WFP) instituted 
its first five year Country Programme (CP) in July 2011. The CP, 
which continues WFP’s focus on education, nutrition and rural 
development, seeks to strengthen food and cash-based social safety 
nets in Cambodia and craft sustainable and scalable implementation 
models that can eventually be managed efficiently by the Royal 
Government of Cambodia. Long-term handover strategies are 
increasingly important at this stage given Cambodia’s impending 
transition from low income to lower middle income status and 
the joint commitment to the establishment of a nationwide school 
feeding programme.
The education component of the CP, which consists of a school meals 
programme and food or cash-based scholarships, constitutes more 
than 75% of all WFP programming in the country. The School Meals 
Programme (SMP), initially launched in 1999, provides daily, on-site, 
hot and nutritious breakfasts to primary school students. Schools 
are selected for inclusion in the programme according to poverty 
levels and education performance (enrollment rates, dropout rates, 
etc). School meals are comprised of rice, canned fish, vitamin A&D￾fortified vegetable oil, yellow split peas and iodized salt which help 
to alleviate short-term hunger and improve concentration. Notably, 
in the 2015-2016 school year, fortified rice will be introduced for 
the first time on a large-scale in Cambodia, courtesy of the USDA 
McGovern-Dole Programme. The objective of the SMP is to create 
incentives for children from poor families to enroll, regularly 
attend and complete their primary education. In 2015, the SMP is 
implemented in 9 provinces and provided daily meals to 268,000 
primary school children from grades 1 to 6. Importantly, given 
resource scarcities, the total children reached by the SMP in 2015 is 
roughly 33% less than the number reached in 2014. Given continuity 
of funding, however, USDA-supported provinces were unaffected by 
these reductions.
introduction
The food and cash based scholarship programme (also referred to 
as Take Home Rations- THR) has been implemented in Cambodia 
since 2004. The target group for this intervention are poor and 
disadvantaged, primary school students in grades four to six. The 
programme is focused in these grades in particular as they have 
the highest dropout rates (with children leaving school to work). 
To ensure that poor and disadvantaged children are adequately 
targeted for inclusion in the programme, WFP prioritizes students 
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
from IDPoor 1 households1
 or children from households that may not 
have IDPoor cards but whose profile fit WFP criteria2
. Scholarships 
are conditional on the student achieving an 80% attendance rate. 
Currently, scholarships are implemented in 6 provinces, reaching 
31,700 beneficiaries. Beneficiary reductions from the 2013-2014 
school (of 40%) were due government handover rather than resource 
constraints, as the government’s scholarship programme extended 
to WFP project areas in an additional 9 provinces, allowing WFP to 
phase out. 
USDA/WFP Partnership
The Government of the United States of America (US), through 
the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) McGovern-Dole (MGD) 
Programme, has been a trusted partner of WFP in Cambodia, dating 
back to 2001. Since its inception, this partnership has ensured that 
more than 3.4 million children have benefited from School Feeding 
Programmes.
The most recent agreement, signed in 2013, provides US $ 20 
million for an extension of school meals and/or food scholarships in 
three provinces (Battambang, Siem Reap, and Kampong Thom) for 
another three years. The goal of current USDA MGD programming 
is to improve the literacy of school age children and increase use 
of improved health and dietary practices, while simultaneously 
providing a safety net to vulnerable and at risk households and 
children. The Results Frameworks (RFs) for the MGD programme are 
shown in Annexes 1 and 2. Overall, 863 primary schools are targeted 
per year with 166,928 primary school students receiving onsite 
breakfasts and 12,221 students in grades 4-6 receiving scholarships 
(with priority to girls, when gender gaps exist).
Alongside the provision of school meals or scholarships, USDA funded 
programmes also focus on the following programme activities, 
including;
• Provision of school equipment and supplies (hygiene, sanitation, 
cooking equipment and literacy-related materials);
• Establishing school gardens and developing partnerships with 
farmers groups to supply food to schools;
• Building and rehabilitating school facilities (including latrines, 
store rooms, kitchens, wells and water stations);
1 The IDPoor system, officially referred to as the Identification of Poor Households Programme, 
is a standardized procedure, developed by the Ministry of Planning (MoP), to identify and classify 
poor households throughout the country. The IDPoor classification process occurs annually, on a 
rolling geographic basis, with the whole country covered every three years. IDPoor status is widely 
used, by both the government and the international community, as a key criteria for targeting as￾sistance. 
2 Given levels of work migration in Cambodia, certain poor households are not present (and thus 
not captured) in the rotating IDPoor classification rounds. WFP takes this into account by assessing 
poverty levels of households within their project areas to ensure that poor households and children 
(who happen not to have IDPoor cards) are not overlooked but rather given the opportunity to 
benefit from the scholarship programme.
• Awareness raising on hygiene, sanitation and nutrition;
• Capacity development on food safety through training of school 
administrators and teachers;
• Strengthening monitoring and evaluation.
A quasi-experimental approach was selected as the preferred 
design for the baseline, mid and endline surveys; employing a 
control group to measure how key outcomes change in the absence 
of intervention. In addition, the midline survey incorporated a 
Programme Theory Evaluation approach, in order to assess how 
changes in certain outcome and output indicators are impacting the 
key outcome variables. This provides a glimpse as to the strength of 
the conceptual model underlying the USDA programme as well as 
provides detailed information on programme gaps within Cambodia 
facilitating prioritization of activities as the third year of programming 
approaches.
While USDA McGovern-Dole monies support WFP’s School Feeding 
Programme in the provinces of Siem Reap, Battambang and 
Kampong Thom, the midline survey (like the baseline survey) was 
only conducted in Siem Reap and Battambang. Kampong Thom 
province was excluded as only SMP are currently being implemented 
with USDA support; the food scholarships is provided by other 
donors. Inclusion of Kampong Thom would have thus complicated 
the sampling procedures and analysis, resulting in additional costs 
with little added value3
.
Within Battambang and Siem Reap, 118 (of 531 possible) intervention 
schools were selected, using random, probability proportional to size 
sampling. A further 25 control schools (10 in Battambang and 15 in 
Siem Reap) were selected via a propensity score matching approach4
. 
Amongst the selected intervention schools, 60 were receiving SMP 
and scholarships while 58 were only recipients of scholarships. A 
detailed list of selected schools can be found in Annexes 3.
Within each intervention school, a number of households were 
selected for inclusion using a random sampling approach. In schools 
with SMP and scholarships, 15 households with children in grades 1-3 
were selected for inclusion in the SMP cohort, while five households 
with children in grade 4 were selected for the SMP and scholarship 
programme cohort. A further 10 households with children in grade 
4 were selected for the scholarship programme cohort. Amongst 
3 For the midline, however, an additional exercise was conducted in Kampong Thom in order to 
make sure that the province was not excluded from detailed review for the duration of project.. 
Findings from Kampong Thom will be provided separately in an ensuing addendum in the coming 
weeks.
4 The Propensity Score Matching Approach is a statistical method that allows control clusters to be 
identified based on the same characteristics used to identify intervention clusters. It is intended to 
ensure that control clusters have very similar characteristics to the intervention clusters.
What is Programme Theory Evaluation?
As the mid-term evaluation has taken a program theory evaluation approach, it useful to take a moment and explain more fully what this 
means and how such an approach can be useful in understanding the reasons behind programmatic successes and failures. 
Programme theory evaluation is based on a simple concept---when trying to understand the success of any programme, evaluations should 
be guided by the expected causal relationships underpinning the design of the programme itself. For the USDA funded, WFP school feeding 
programme in Cambodia, this means assessing how outcomes, such as literacy, are changing in relation to how these outcomes would 
be expected to change given improvements or deterioration in attentiveness, attendance or quality of instruction. Programme theory 
evaluation can also be used to assess more distal causal pathways, looking at the various indicators for attendance or improved quality of 
education and assess whether the improvements or deteriorations in these indicators are impacting the outcomes as would be expected. 
The usefulness of programme theory evaluation is that it makes it possible to expose faulty thinking in programme design, while allowing a 
visualization of the weak links in programme implementation and indicating areas where programmes need to improve. 
methodology
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Recognizing the Importance of Monitoring and Evaluation
To ensure that USDA McGovern Dole funding is having maximum impact, WFP is establishing an innovative M&E system that will not 
only enable more efficient outcome monitoring but also provide more responsive programme monitoring to address problems in 
implementation real-time.
WFP’s Real-time Monitoring and Evaluation System
WFP has recently entered an innovative partnership with InSTEDD 
and MangoMaps to develop streamlined data collection and 
management systems, with the aim of improving systems within 
WFP and ensuring that similar technologies are available for other 
actors in the development and humanitarian fields. 
Development of mobile-phone based real-time data collection 
system
WFP is working with InSTEDD to significantly expand the capacities 
of their Resource Map application, thus creating an open-sourced, 
integrated mobile phone-based Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) 
data collection system. Information collected is linked to a geographic 
interface and provides real-time alerts to programme managers to 
ensure rapid responses to programmatic issues. In practice, this 
means that key M&E and VAM indicators, once data is collected 
and uploaded via mobile phone, are displayed geographically on 
a google-maps based interface. If certain indicators exceed pre￾defined triggers, alerts (in the form of emails or SMS’s) are sent to 
relevant programme and managerial staff, ensuring that problems 
in programme implementation are identified and solved quickly. 
This has the capacity to improve WFP’s programme implementation 
as well as their response times immeasurably. This technology also 
serves as a central repository for M&E and VAM data, allowing all programme staff the capacity to view the latest updates in real-time. 
Giving beneficiaries a voice: Development of an automated complaint mechanism 
A further aspect of WFP’s and InSTEDD’s collaboration focuses on the establishment of an automated complaint mechanism, allowing 
beneficiaries avenues by which to confidentially report issues in WFP programming, whether it be related to serious problems (food 
diversions, theft, etc) or more minor issues (such as mistakes in ration sizes or targeting criteria). Again, this is a free and open-source tool, 
created by InSTEDD, that allows beneficiaries to listen and record messages in their own language and dialect or answer questions with a 
phone keypad. Importantly, the automated complaint mechanism has the capacity to build in triggers, which would allow real-time alerting 
of WFP management (via phone calls, SMS or emails) to significant problems requiring immediate resolution.
Making information actionable: Collaboration with MangoMaps
WFP is taking advantage of state-of-the￾art technologies to make M&E information 
more actionable to programme managers 
and decision makers. By utilizing Mango 
Maps unique geographic mapping 
platforms, WFP is able to display all key 
information in an interactive map, which 
allows users to explore the information 
behind the map with a click of a button, 
providing the information they need to 
address problems more efficiently (see 
Figure 1).
InSTEDD and WFP giving back: Importantly, 
WFP’s support of and collaboration with 
InSTEDD will also provide a service to 
other WFP offices, the wider development 
and humanitarian communities and the 
Royal Government of Cambodia as the 
technologies under development are 
open-sourced and thus accessible to any 
organization or government free of charge. 
This will improve existing technologies and 
ensure greater access to sophisticated data 
collection and management systems.
Figure 1: Example of Real-time Monitoring and Evaluation Platform
Founded in 2006 from a TED Prize, and based in California’s Silicon Valley, 
InSTEDD is a unique software development and design company, using open 
source technology tools to help actors in the development field improve 
collaboration, information flow and knowledge sharing with the ultimate 
aim of improving delivery of critical services to vulnerable populations. With 
long term sustainability in mind, InSTEDDs interdisciplinary team of public 
health experts, scientists, and software engineers help build local capacity 
to solve critical health, safety and sustainable development problems. 
InSTEDD now operates around the world to implement their vision. With 
startup funding from Google.org and the Rockefeller Foundation, which 
includes setting up innovation labs in Southeast Asia and Latin America, 
that are fostering collaborative engineering practices and entrepreneurial 
innovation in those regions.
MangoMaps is a GIS web map publication platform that can be used to 
create innovative, interactive maps, which allow non GIS specialists the 
power to better explore and utilize GIS information. MangoMaps also 
enhances GIS information sharing by serving as a platform by which GIS 
information can be stored and shared by multiple actors across the private 
sector and development and humanitarian communities.
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
performance by teachers, the Government, in 2014/2015, has 
increased salaries from 70 USD per month to 120 USD per month with 
a further increase planned in mid-2015 to 162 USD. The Government 
has also instituted a system to recognize and award teachers for 
exemplary performance and placed greater focus on monitoring the 
attendance and performance of teachers. The Government is also 
currently updating the curriculum at schools, with a renewed focus 
on improving literacy as well as providing more textbooks, teacher 
guides and training materials, with distribution of these focused 
primarily in poor and marginalized areas.
Despite these positive changes, observed literacy levels are still 
lower than USDA MGD Programme targets of 80%. Thus, while 
improvement to the educational sector are happening, the quality of 
schooling in Cambodia remains one of the most significant challenges. 
WFP will continue to work with the Government to encourage and 
support policies and strategies that improve literacy. 
Improved Quality of Literacy Instruction
To assess quality of literacy instruction, the midline survey examined 
the percentage of teachers who demonstrate improved literacy 
instruction as identified by supervisors5
. Overall, according to 
supervisors, 49% of teachers demonstrated improvements, which 
falls well short of the target of 80%. To achieve this target by the 
end of the project will be challenging but improvement in the below 
indicators will build the foundation for improvement in this area. 
More consistent teacher attendance
To measure improvements in teacher attendance, WFP examined 
overall teacher attendance rates as well as the percent of teachers 
who were present at school for at least 90% of the scheduled school 
days. Findings at both baseline and midline indicated that teacher 
attendance, while not quite achieving USDA MGD targets, is still 
quite good. At midline, average attendance for teachers was 88% 
with roughly 81% present for at least 90% of the scheduled school 
days, showing relative stability since the baseline (Figure 3). To meet 
USDA targets, however, it will be necessary for teachers to focus 
more exclusively on teaching (as a primary livelihood) and less on 
other income generating activities such as paddy or cassava farming 
(which are often the activities that result in teacher absenteeism). It 
5 Notably, the baseline survey was unable to collect this indicator given confusion as to what con￾stitutes improved literacy instruction among enumerators and respondents. For the midline, WFP 
was able to remedy this problem by including more detailed training on this topic, improving enu￾merator and field monitor’s understanding. Given lack of a baseline, however, the midline survey 
findings will serve as the baseline moving forward and will be used as the comparison for the final 
evaluation.
control schools, 20 households with children in grades 1-4 were 
randomly selected. It’s important to note that the numbers of 
selected households per school was lower than intended in certain 
cases, as the number of children benefitting from the scholarship 
programme was fewer than the required 10 in certain schools. Thus, 
the actual number of households interviewed is 2,202 households 
as opposed to the 2,280 required by the sampling design.
Alongside household surveys, school assessments and teacher 
interviews were conducted. School assessments included basic 
information on the composition and performance of the school 
(number of children enrolled, attending, availability of advanced 
teaching materials, literacy testing success rates, etc) as well as 
specific information on the school’s infrastructure (latrines, water 
sources, kitchens, school gardens, etc). The primary respondent 
in the case of the school assessment was the school’s principal or 
chief administrator. In the case of teacher interviews, a total of 540 
teachers, for grades 1-4, were interviewed in each selected school, 
an average of three teachers per school. 
Data analysis was conducted using STATA and SPSS software. Overall 
households and school level estimates for the intervention schools 
were weighted to reflect the proportion of the population benefiting 
from each programme. 
More detailed information on the survey methodology, including 
specifics on the survey tools and the process of data collection and 
supervision, can be referenced in Annex 3.
A primary objective of USDA McGovern-Dole funded projects 
is to improve literacy amongst school age children. To assess 
improvements in literacy, the midline survey (following a similar 
methodology to the baseline survey) examined a proxy for literacy, 
namely whether children in grade 6 are reading at their grade level 
by the time they graduate primary school. In addition, the midline 
survey assessed a series of indicators that are the building blocks 
to better literacy, including quality of literacy instruction, improved 
attentiveness while in school and improved attendance. 
In terms of literacy, midline information suggests an improvement, 
from 57% able to read at grade level at baseline to 66% at midline 
(Figure 2). This improvement reflects the renewed focus from 
Government to improve the quality and commitment of teachers 
as well as the overall curriculum at schools. To encourage better 
Figure 2: Percent of student who, by the end of grade 6, demonstrate 
reading comprehension equivalent to their grade level as defined by 
national standards
Figure 3: Percent of teachers in target schools who attend and teach 
school at least 90% of scheduled school days per year
improved literacy of school age children
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Education Context in Cambodia: 1970’s to 2015
The educational legacy of the Khmer Rouge
Already suffering from funding cuts and school closures during the regime of General Lon Nol, the education sector in Cambodia was 
fundamentally disassembled with the arrival of Pol Pot and his “great leap” revolutionary ideology. Deeming education and literacy as 
unnecessary (and even dangerous), Pol Pot’s regime abolished formal schooling, destroyed school infrastructure and set out to purge 
Khmer Rouge society of all teachers, students, professionals and intellectuals. It is estimated that roughly three-quarters of the educated 
population were either killed or forced to flee the country as a result.1,2
With the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, formal education could restart, but the entire foundation of the educational system needed to 
be reconstructed. This included re-building the physical infrastructure of the educational system while also identifying and harnessing the 
human resources with the capacity to teach children the basics of reading and writing. Educational priorities in the initial post-Khmer Rouge 
period are best illustrated by a quote from an education official who was actively working on restarting the education sector at the time:
1979-1981 was a period of restructuring and rehabilitating of both infrastructure and human resources. By restructuring and 
rehabilitation, I refer to collecting school-aged children and putting them in schools despite [the fact, they were] in (the) poor 
condition. Classes were even conducted in makeshift, open-air classrooms or under trees. We appealed to all those surviving 
teachers and literate people to teach the illiterates. We used various slogans such as ‘going to teach and going to school is 
nation-loving’ and so on. There were no official licenses or any requirements for taking on the teaching job. We just tried to 
open schools and literacy classes, regardless of their quality.3
This difficult rebuilding process was further complicated by the continuing conflict with remnants of the Khmer Rouge and the devastating, 
destructive legacy of the Khmer Rouge regime, which, in the late 1980’s, left 30% of primary school-aged children without a father, 10% 
without a mother and between 5-10% without both parents.4,5
The rebirth and revitalization of the education system
Education at all levels restarted in the 1980’s. Primary and secondary school enrollment rapidly increased, from less than 1 million in 1980 
to more than 1.5 million in 1989.6
 By 1999/2000, the net primary school enrolment rate had reached 85.5% and was continuing to improve. 
To build on these improvements, the government adopted its first set of coherent policy documents and strategic plans for the education 
sector in 2001, marking a shift toward a sector wide approach to accelerate reforms. These included; the first Education Strategic Plan (2001-
2005), an Education Sector Support Programme (2001-2005) and the National Education for All Action Plan in 2003. The first Education 
Strategic Plan was followed by a second (2006-2010) which highlighted three priorities in the education sector; achieving equitable access 
to education, improving the quality and efficiency of education and strengthening institutional capacity to deliver education. 
By 2009/2010, as a result of this sustained focus, universal enrollment had almost been achieved, with 95.8% of primary school age-children 
enrolled. Likewise, the rate of students entering grade 6 doubled from 2000/2001 to 2007/2008 (from 47% to 79.5%), likely indicating a 
similar increase in graduation rates. Secondary school enrollment rates experienced similar improvements with rates doubling to 31.9% in 
2009/2010. Notably, by 2010, gender parity in enrollment in both primary and lower secondary school had been achieved.7
From 2010 to 2015, progress has continued, but inevitably at a slower pace. By 2013, the net enrollment rates for primary and secondary 
schools had increased further, to 97% for primary and 43% for secondary. Completion rates for primary school have also continued to 
increase, reaching 92% in 2013. The third and fourth Education Strategic Plans (2009-2013/ 2014-2018) as well as the 2014-2018 National 
Strategic Develop Plan (NSDP) have all highlighted the importance of education as well as the need to focus on skill development of the 
Cambodian population, ensuring that education remains high on the agenda moving forward. 
Key remaining challenges and USDA McGovern-Dole contribution
Despite significant improvements to the education system over the last couple of decades, the 2014- 2018 Education Strategic Plans cites 
numerous remaining challenges including the need to focus on; expanding equitable access to primary school education for remote, often 
marginalized communities and improving the quality of education by developing an accountability framework and by providing highly 
qualified teachers as well as better textbooks and learning materials.
Notably, the USDA McGovern-Dole support through WFP is actively supporting the government in addressing these remaining challenges. Be 
it through the provision of scholarships to the poor and marginalized or through its focus on teacher and administrator trainings, distribution 
of learning packages and focus on better literacy materials and curriculum, USDA support in Cambodia is increasing equitable access to 
education as well as improving teacher skills and overall educational quality. Notably, USDA support is also funding the development of a 
robust, real-time monitoring and evaluation system as well as a complaint mechanisms system for the Ministry of Education, modeled after 
the systems currently in use by WFP. These systems will go a long way towards improving the accountability of the educational system, 
not only to policy makers but the Cambodian people as a whole. Taken together, it is clear that USDA support is uniquely aligned with 
government priorities for the coming years.
1 Asian Development Bank. Cambodia: Education sector strategy study. 1996 
2 UNESCO (Prasteri, S.) Rebirth of the learning tradition: A case study on the achievements of Education for All in Cambodia. 1996.
3 Sideth S. Dy, Strategies and Policies for Basic Education in Cambodia: Historical Perspectives. International Education Journal, Vol 5, No 1, 2004.
4 Postlethwaite, T.N. (1988) Kampuchea. In T.N. Postlethwaite (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Comparative Education and National Systems of Education, (pp.412-13), Oxford: Pergamon Press.
5 Sideth S. Dy, Strategies and Policies for Basic Education in Cambodia: Historical Perspectives. International Education Journal, Vol 5, No 1, 2004. 
6 Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Education in Cambodia. 1999.
7 Overseas Development Institute. Development Progress Stories. Cambodia’s story: Rebuilding basic education in Cambodia: Establishing a more effective development partnership. 2010. 
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Improved literacy instructional material
To measure improvements in literacy instruction materials, the 
baseline survey assessed the percent of teachers who used the 
approved, national literacy curriculum as a part of their instructional 
materials as well as the number of classrooms (according to teachers/ 
school administrators) which had literacy materials sufficient for 
effective instruction. 
Midline findings show mixed results since the beginning of the project. 
Overall, 75% of teachers are using national literacy curriculum and 
related instructional materials, up significantly from 60% at baseline 
(Figure 8). By contrast, 77% of classrooms have sufficient literacy 
materials for improved instruction, down from 86% at baseline. 
The notable improvement in teacher utilization of national literacy 
instruction is likely due to the convergence of USDA MGD support 
and the renewed Government commitment to improve literacy 
and it is likely a key reason behind the modest increases in literacy 
observed since the project’s inception.
The decline in the number of classrooms with sufficient literacy 
materials, on the other hand, is a concern to WFP and will be 
addressed as quickly as possible.
Increased skills and knowledge of teachers
To assess increases in the skills and knowledge of teachers, the 
midline survey examined the following indicators;
is hoped that salary increases will improve the situation quickly, as 
teachers now receive the necessary incentives to focus more fully 
on teaching. 
Better Access to School Supplies and Materials
To measure access to school supplies and materials, WFP regularly 
monitors the following indicators which measure progress in terms 
of programme implementation:
• Number of schools receiving school supplies and materials 
• Number of learning material packages provided to target 
schools
• Number of stationery packages provided to target schools
• Number of students (boys/girls) benefitting from the provision 
of school supplies
Since the project’s inception, almost all schools have been provided 
school supplies and materials, with 99.2% of schools reached and 
88% of children benefiting as a result (Figures 4 and 5). WFP has 
identified which schools have not been reached and is actively 
working to remedy the situation. 
The total number of learning material and stationary packages 
delivered is only slightly behind schedule, with more than 38% of 
the planned number already delivered as of the halfway point of the 
project (Figures 6 and 7). It is expected, however,that all targets will 
be reached by the end of the project. 
Figure 4: Percent of schools receiving school supplies and materials 
(learning material packages and stationery packages)
Figure 6: Percent of stationery packages provided to target schools Figure 7: Percent of learning material packages provided to target 
schools
Figure 5: Percent of students benefitting from the provision of school 
supplies
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
• Number of teachers/ educators/ teaching assistants trained or 
certified
• Number of teachers / educators / teaching assistants who 
successfully completed in service or received intensive 
coaching or mentoring
• Number of teachers in target schools with recognized teacher 
certification credentials
• Percent of teachers in target schools who demonstrated use of 
new and quality teaching techniques or tools
Midline findings suggest that teacher qualifications and skills are 
improving, but much work remains if targets are to be achieved. 
Overall, 81% of teachers in USDA supported schools were certified 
as of the midline and there has been significant progress (a 48 
percentage point increase) in the number of those recently trained 
and/or certified6
. More than a third (39%) of teacher trainings have 
yet to be completed but the majority of these trainings are planned 
for the end of the school year in 2015. Notably, 63% of teachers, 
educators or teaching assistants have also successfully completed in 
service training or received intensive coaching or mentoring, while 
37% are yet to receive such training. Findings and USDA MGD targets 
are shown in Figures 9-11.
6 Please note, the narrative of the baseline survey erroneously reports that 51% has received such 
a training or certification. This was a mistake in the narrative only, as the Strategic Results Frame￾work (in Annex 1) showed the correct information.
While teacher qualifications are improving, trainings and certifications 
themselves do not necessarily improve the quality of teaching, as 
only 41% (up slightly from 36% at baseline) demonstrated the use 
of new, quality teaching techniques or tools (Figure 12). As such, 
focus should be placed not only on expanding the coverage of 
trainings but also improving the quality of trainings, ensuring that all 
teachers have a basic set of skills that allow them to take advantage 
of better quality teaching methods and tools. To support continuing 
improvement in this area, WFP will highlight these better teaching 
methods and tools to educators during all WFP-led trainings for the 
remainder of the USDA MGD project.
Increased skills and knowledge of administrators
To assess increases in the skills and knowledge of school 
administrators and other officials, the midline survey examined the 
following indicators;
• Number of administrators trained or certified
• Number of administrators in target schools with recognized 
education certification credentials
• Percent of administrators in target schools who demonstrated 
use of new and quality teaching techniques or tools
Training and certification of school administrators and other officials 
appear to be a more significant challenge than teacher training and 
certification. Overall, 13% of school administrators and officials have 
Figure 8: Percent of teachers using the national literacy curriculum 
and the related instructional materials
Figure 10: Percent of teachers / educators / teaching assistants 
trained or certified
Figure 11: Percent of teachers / educators / teaching assistants who 
successfully completed in service or received intensive coaching or 
mentoring
Figure 9: Percent of teachers in target schools with recognized 
teacher certification credentials 
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Figure 12: Percent of teachers in target schools who demonstrate 
use of new and quality teaching techniques or tools
Figure 14: Percent of school administrators and officials trained or 
certified
Figure 13: Percent of school administrators and officials in target 
schools with recognized education certification credentials
Figure 15: Percent of school administrators in targeted schools 
who demonstrate use of new techniques or tools
recognized education certification credentials as of the midpoint of 
the 2014-2015 school year. New trainings are proceeding, however, 
with 53% of targeted school administrators trained since 2013. As 
seen in teachers, however, training does not necessarily improve 
performance, as only 29% of school administrators use new, quality 
educational techniques and tools. Findings and USDA MGD targets 
are shown in Figures 13-15.
Improved Attentiveness
To measure improved attentiveness, the midline survey measured 
perceived or reported attentiveness through the eyes of both the 
student and the teacher, while also assessing indicators that impact 
attentiveness, including short term child hunger amongst others. 
To assess attentiveness directly, teachers were requested to indicate 
the percent of students that they perceived as inattentive on a 
regular basis. Students were likewise then requested to indicate how 
attentive they perceive themselves as being. Findings were quite 
consistent with teachers indicating that only 9% of students were 
inattentive on a regular basis while 95% of students reported being 
attentive (Figure 16). With increases in attentiveness observed since 
the baseline, USDA MGD targets (of 10% for inattentiveness and 
90% for attentiveness) have now been exceeded, though continued 
focus on this is required to ensure further progress.
Reduced short term hunger
To assess short term hunger, the midline survey reports not only 
on child hunger but also on various programme implementation 
measures, including;
• Number of take home rations provided to students (boys/girls)
• Number of students (boys/girls) benefitting from a take home 
ration 
• Quantity of commodities (tons) provided for take-home 
rations provided to students (boys/girls)
• Number of students (boys/girls), cooks and storekeepers 
benefitting from school meals (breakfast) 
• Number of daily school meals (breakfast) provided to students 
(boys/girls)
• Percent of students in target school consuming daily meals at 
schools
• Quantity of commodities (tons) provided for school meals, 
students (boys/girls), storekeepers and cooks 
Regarding the implementation indicators above, midline results 
show that quantities of commodities distributed as well as 
numbers of beneficiaries reached is largely on target. Regarding 
food scholarships, 34% of all planned rations have been delivered 
to date, with 33% of total rice allotment distributed as well. The 
impending second quarter distribution for 2015 is expected to take 
this total to approximately 50% for the overall project, putting WFP 
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
on course to meet targets by the end of the project. So far, 82% 
of the total number of expected food scholarship beneficiaries have 
been reached, with the new beneficiaries for 2015-2016 school year 
likely to take this figure higher than the expected targets. Findings 
and USDA MGD targets are shown in Figures 17-19.
Similar progress has been observed in the SMP. Overall, 45% of all 
scheduled school meals have been delivered as of the midline survey, 
placing WFP on course to meet expected targets. Likewise, 44-45% 
of the total rice, yellow split pea and oil to be distributed has already 
been dispatched as of the midline. In terms of beneficiaries reached, 
97% of the expected number of students are benefiting from SMP, 
with 3% still not reached. This shortfall will be rectified by the number 
of children entering grade 1 in 2015-2016 school year. Notably, 97% 
of children reported eating school meals on a daily basis, which falls 
above the USDA threshold of 95%. Findings and USDA MGD targets 
are shown in Figures 20-25.
To measure child hunger, children were asked whether they were 
“hungry” or “very hungry” during school days. On average, midline 
findings indicate that 17% of children reported hunger during the 
school day which is close to a 10 percentage point improvement 
from baseline. Notably, the provision of school meals seemed to be 
the main factor in this improvement, as children receiving school 
meals indicated an improvement of 13 percentage points while 
children receiving only scholarships reported only a 4 percentage 
point improvement (Figure 26). As indicated in the baseline, such 
an improvement, while expected (given that a meal is provided), 
is always dependent on the smooth functioning of the programme 
overall, something which is demonstrable given the implementation 
and hunger indicators.
Improved Attendance
Official student attendance rates are not available in Cambodia 
as adequate attendance records are not kept at some schools. 
Therefore, it was only possible to estimate attendance rates via the 
actual head count of students present in classrooms on the day the 
schools were visited. The midline survey also explored the percent 
of children that attended classes at least 80% of the time, as this is a 
common indicator that WFP uses for determining eligibility for food 
scholarships.
Overall, findings suggest fairly strong attendance, with estimated 
rates hovering near USDA MGD project targets. On average, 86% 
and 87% of children were present on the day intervention and 
control schools were visited, respectively, versus USDA MGD target 
of 90%. Findings from the midline were virtually unchanged from 
the baseline where 85 and 88% respectively were attending. Within 
the intervention cohort, attendance did not differ, with rates steady 
at 86% (Figure 27).
Figure 16: Percent of students in target schools identified as 
attentive
Figure 17: Percent of take home rations provided to students
Figure 18: Percent of quantity of rice provided for take-home rations 
provided to students
Figure 19: Percent of students benefitting from a take home ration
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Figure 20: Percent of daily school meals (breakfast) provided to 
students
Figure 21: Percent of quantity of rice provided for school meals 
provided to students, storekeepers and cooks
Figure 22: Percent of quantity of YSP provided for school meals 
provided to students, storekeepers and cooks
Figure 23: Percent of quantity of vegetable oil provided for school 
meals provided to students, storekeepers and cooks
Figure 24: Percent of students benefitting from school meals 
(breakfast)
Figure 25: Percent of students in target school consuming daily 
meals at schools
Midline findings indicated significant shifts since the baseline in the 
precentage of students who regularly attended school (>=80% of 
the time). Regularly attendance at intervention schools increased 8 
percentage points, from 78% at baseline to 86% at midline, surpassing 
WFP’s target of 80% (Figure 28). Within the intervention cohort, 
increases in attendance were only observed at schools receiving 
school meals (rather than just food scholarships alone), with regular 
attendance jumping 18 percentage points, from 71% at baseline to 
89% at midline. This illustrates the “pull factor” that school meals 
continue to have throughout USDA intervention areas in Cambodia. 
As regular attendance also makes it more likely for children to do 
well in school, the provision of school meals is likely to impact overall 
academic achievements. 
To ensure that targets are met, WFP will continue to focus heavily 
on improving attendance, both by encouraging attendance directly 
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Figure 26: Percent of students in target schools who indicate that 
they are “hungry” or “very hungry” during the school day
Figure 28: Percent of students regularly (80%) attending USDA 
supported classrooms/schools
Figure 27: Estimated student attendance rate
and by improving the various indicators that impact attendance, 
including;
• Increased economic and cultural incentives
• Reduce health related absences
• Improving school infrastructure
• Increasing overall enrolment
• Increasing community understanding of the benefits of 
education 
The specifics of these indicators at baseline are described below.
Increased Economic and Cultural Incentives
To assess increased economic and cultural incentives for education, 
the midline survey examined the number of schools providing 
separate latrine facilities and the number of children at target schools 
that regularly receive school meals and/or food scholarships. 
Overall, progress on the provision of separate latrine facilities for 
boys and girls continued to be far below USDA MGD targets, with 
virtually no improvement since the inception of the project (63 
versus 64% at baseline and midline respectively) (Figure 29). WFP 
must renew focus on this issue if targets are to be achieved. 
The number of beneficiaries regularly receiving food scholarships 
actually, as of the midline, exceeds the expected targets.
Reduced health related absences
To improve attendance and improve overall well-being of children, 
health-related absences must be minimized. As discussed in the 
baseline, WFP has set the ambitious target that children should miss 
5 days or fewer per year due to illness. Baseline findings provided 
an indication as to how hard it would be to achieve this target, with 
children amongst the intervention schools missing more than 3 
times that amount (16 days) per year due to illness. Midline findings, 
unfortunately, reiterate how difficult it is to tackle this issue. Amongst 
all intervention schools, health-related absences only reduced by 
1 per year (to 15 days). Looking within intervention groups, there 
were mixed findings, with children receiving school meals showing 
1 fewer day of health-related absences while children receiving only 
scholarships showed a 5 day increase in health-related absences 
(Figure 30). With much work remaining, a sustained focus on the 
project components that relate to improved health and nutrition is 
absolutely vital if targets are to be achieved.
Improved School Infrastructure
To assess improvements in school infrastructure, WFP is monitoring 
the following programme implementation measures:
• Number of latrines at target schools rehabilitated or 
constructed 
• Number of kitchens at target schools rehabilitated or 
constructed 
• Number of energy-saving stoves at target schools rehabilitated 
or constructed 
• Number of storerooms at target schools rehabilitated or 
constructed 
Figure 29: The percent of schools providing separate latrine 
facilities
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Figure 30: Average number of school days missed by students due 
to illness
• Number of school gardens at target schools rehabilitated or 
constructed 
• Number of drilled wells/water stations at target schools 
rehabilitated or constructed 
• Number of students benefitting from the rehabilitated or 
constructed latrines
• Number of students benefitting from the rehabilitated or 
constructed kitchens
• Number of students benefitting from the rehabilitated or 
constructed energy-saving stoves
• Number of students benefitting from the rehabilitated or 
constructed storerooms
• Number of students benefitting from the rehabilitated or 
constructed school gardens
• Number of students benefitting from the rehabilitated or 
constructed drilled wells/water stations
Midline results show that there is less progress on school 
infrastructure projects than expected at this stage of the programme, 
with the percent of projects completed ranging from 34% (of 
storerooms rehabilitated or constructed) on the low side to 53% 
(latrines rehabilitated or constructed) on the high side. The only 
exception is school gardens, where 92% of the targeted gardens 
have been rehabilitated/ constructed. The reason for generally 
low implementation rates of infrastructure projects at this stage, 
however, is due to the fact that the bulk of these projects were 
Figure 31: Percent of latrines at target schools rehabilitated or 
constructed
Figure 32: Percent of kitchens at target schools rehabilitated or 
constructed
scheduled to begin in the latter half of 2015, so implementation 
should be back on track by early 2016. Findings and USDA MGD 
targets are shown in Figures 31-36.
Increased school enrollment 
To assess school enrollment, the midline survey examined the 
numbers of children enrolled as well as the percentage increase in 
students enrolled in school. Overall, the number of children enrolled 
exceeded targets in 2014/2015, with enrollment increasing by 2% on 
average (Figure 37). 
Increased community understanding of the benefits of education
To measure progress in terms of better community understanding on 
the benefits of education, the midline survey measures the number 
of parents in target communities who are members of Parent 
Teacher Associations (PTAs) as well as the percentage of parents 
that can name at least three benefits of primary education. Findings 
from the midline survey showed improvements in the percentage of 
parents who are members of PTAs, with the percent increasing from 
84% at baseline to 92% at midline. By contrast, the percentage of 
parents who are able to name three benefits of primary education 
remained low and was virtually unchanged from baseline (18 to 
17% respectively). As the USDA MGD target stands at 85%, it is clear 
that targets will not be achieved absent a clear focus on community 
awareness raising activities on the importance of education (Figures 
38 and 39). 
Figure 33: Percent of energy-saving stoves at target schools 
rehabilitated or constructed
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Figure 36: Percent of drilled wells/water stations at target schools 
rehabilitated or constructed
Figure 35: Percent of school gardens at target schools rehabilitated 
or constructed
To assess the use of health and dietary practices, the baseline survey 
examined the following indicators (acting as proxies for this strategic 
objective):
• Percent of schools with soap and water at handwashing 
stations commonly used by students
• Number/percent of schools using improved sanitation facilities 
(latrines)
• Percent of households in target schools that store food off the 
ground
• Percent of schools in target communities that clean cooking and 
eating equipment, consistent with accepted standards
At baseline, it was observed that much progress had been made 
advancing health and dietary messages from previous school 
feeding programmes, with 93% of targeted schools reporting 
improved sanitation facilities and 86% and 83% of schools reporting 
proper storage techniques (storing food off the ground) and use 
of clean cooking and eating utensils, respectively. Midline findings 
revealed little additional improvement in these indicators, with the 
percentages of each remaining unchanged. As the pool of schools 
lacking proper sanitation facilities and hygienic storage and cooking 
behaviors becomes smaller, it is natural that achievements on these 
indicators will slow. To ensure targets are met, however, WFP will 
have to identify those schools that lag behind and better target 
interventions. Findings and USDA MGD targets are shown in Figures 
40-42.
The indicator where the least progress was observed at baseline 
was the percent of schools with soap and water at handwashing 
stations. Amongst the targeted schools, only 64% reported properly 
equipped handwashing stations at baseline, falling well short of the 
85% required by USDA MGD programme. Findings from the midline 
survey, however, showed considerable progress on this front, with 
percentages increasing from 64% to 80% amongst intervention 
schools. Notably, most progress was made in schools receiving 
school meals with percentages improving by 25 percentage points 
(from 64 to 89%), surpassing the target of 85% (Figure 43). Over the 
coming year or so, schools receiving only food scholarships should 
also be targeted for intervention, as children in these schools need 
these facilities as well (regardless of the fact that they are not served 
a school meal).
To better assess progress in health and dietary practices, WFP also 
examined a series of more specific indicators, looking at the following 
issues in more depth;
• Increased knowledge of health and hygiene practices
• Increased knowledge of safe food preparation and storage
• Increased knowledge of nutrition
Figure 34: Percent of storerooms at target schools rehabilitated or 
constructed
Figure 37: Percentage of targeted children enrolled
Increased use of health and dietary practice
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Figure 39: Percent of parents in target communities who can name 
at least three benefits of primary education 
• Increased access to clean water and sanitation
• Increased access to preventative health interventions
• Increased access to requisite food preparation and storage tools 
and equipment
Findings are shown by indicator below. 
Figure 38: Percentage of parents who are members of PTAs
Increased Knowledge of Health and Hygiene Practices
To assess health and hygiene knowledge, the midline survey explored 
parents’ understanding of proper health and hygiene practices as 
well as their knowledge on where to find accurate information on 
health. Overall, midline findings suggest that parents remain quite 
knowledgeable on where to access health information (with 88% 
reporting at least one local source of accurate health information￾Figure 41: Percent of schools in target communities that clean 
cooking and eating equipment
Figure 40: Percent of schools that store food off the ground
Figure 42: Percent of schools using improved sanitation facilities Figure 43: Percent of schools with soap and water at handwashing 
stations commonly used by students
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
--exceeding USDA MGD targets). As seen in the baseline, however, 
this does not necessarily translate into more first-hand knowledge 
on proper health and hygiene, as only 54% at midline were able to 
identify three important health and hygiene practices (remaining far 
below USDA targets--Figures 44 and 45). Notably, both percentages 
declined slightly from baseline to midline so WFP will need to 
redouble efforts, particularly in relation to the educating communities 
regarding health and hygiene practices.
Increased Knowledge of Safe Food Preparation and 
Storage
Safe food preparation and storage is assessed by examining what 
percent of cooks and storekeepers at target schools achieved a passing 
grade on a safe food preparation and storage test. As mentioned in 
the baseline survey, this test was under development at the time of 
the baseline survey field work and thus was not included amongst 
the baseline survey tools. Thus, the midline survey provides the first 
real indication of progress in this area. Overall, however, findings 
indicate insufficient knowledge amongst these groups on this issue, 
with only 64% achieving a passing grade on the test. To reach USDA 
targets and ensure that children are protected from food borne 
diseases, WFP must ensure that training packages and trainings are 
provided to address this issue. 
Increased Knowledge of Nutrition
To assess progress on improvements in nutrition knowledge, the 
baseline survey examined:
• The percentage of students and parents who can identify at least 
one local source of information on proper diets and nutrition .
• The percentage of cooks and storekeepers that have a passing 
grade on good nutrition and dietary practices
The percentage of parents who can identify at least one local source 
of information on proper diet and nutrition declined significantly 
from baseline to midline (88% to 74%). If true, this is one of the 
more concerning findings of the midline evaluation. One indication 
that it may be spurious, however, is that similar declines were 
also seen amongst controls, perhaps indicating that the question 
was interpreted differently by enumerators and/or respondents in 
baseline and midline surveys (Figure 46). This will be a key focus of 
WFP in the aftermath of this evaluation, as it is absolutely critical 
to understand whether parents have the tools they need to ensure 
their child has proper diets and overall nutrition.
As mentioned in the baseline survey, the test on good nutrition 
and dietary practices was under development at the time of the 
baseline survey field work and thus was not included amongst the 
baseline survey tools. Thus (as is the case with the test on safe food 
preparation and storage), the midline survey provides the first real 
indication of progress in this area. Findings again indicate, however, 
insufficient knowledge amongst these groups on nutrition and diet. 
Overall, fewer than half (only 41%) achieve a passing grade on this 
test. To reach USDA targets and ensure that children reap the full 
benefits of school meals, WFP must ensure that training packages 
and trainings are provided to address this issue.
Increased Access to Clean Water and Sanitation
To measure access to clear water and sanitation, the baseline survey 
examined:
• The ratio of latrines (boys/girls) to students at target schools
• The percentage of schools with year round access to safe and 
clear water source
• The number of target schools that have latrines of sufficient 
quality that are in good repair
According to midline findings, all three indicators have improved 
since baseline. Overall, the ratio of students to latrines improved 
from 1: 131 at baseline to 1:105 at midline, with similar reductions 
seen for boys and girls (though slightly more pronounced amongst 
girls) (Figure 47). Access to clean water (year round) improved from 
67% at baseline to 77% at midline. Likewise, access to quality latrines 
improved from 78% to 93%. All indicators remain below USDA MGD 
targets but the trends are in the right direction.
Increased Access to Preventative Health Interventions
To examine access to preventative health measures, the baseline 
survey assessed the following:
• Percentage of children dewormed within the past 6 months
• The number of target schools with at least one month supply of 
soap (hand and dish soap)
• Number of students receiving daily school meals with 
micronutrient fortified commodities
In total, more than 82% (up only slightly from 80% at baseline) of 
children have been dewormed in the past six months, while 80% of 
schools maintained stocks of soap (up from 70% at baseline). This 
demonstrates significant progress to date, but most of this success 
Figure 44: Percent of parents who can identify at least one local 
source of information on good health practices
Figure 45: Percent of parents who can name at least three 
important health/ hygiene practices
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Figure 46: Percent of parents who can identify at least one local 
source of information on nutrition and diet
Figure 47: Average ratio of latrines to students 
still derives from programming in years past. In terms of the number 
of children receiving micronutrient fortified foods, 96% of children 
were receiving fortified food at the midline, including fortified oil and 
salt. Notably, fortified rice is soon to be introduced as well in all USDA 
provinces, beginning in the 2015-2016 school year. 
Increased Access to Requisite Food Preparation and 
Storage tools and Equipment
To assess this, the midline monitored the number of target schools 
with improved food preparation and storage equipment. While at 
baseline no schools indicated such improved equipment, midline 
findings showed substantial improvements, with 455 of the 600 
targeted schools having increased access to this equipment. This 
will continue to be a focus of moving forward, to ensure targets are 
met.
Using the various information collected as a part of the USDA MGD 
evaluation (both baselines and follow ups), WFP is able to track 
progress in terms of project implementation as well as outcomes 
by creating and plotting composite/ index variables which track 
achievements across a host of indicators. The composite variables 
include;
• Progress on educational programme implementation 
• Progress on educational outcomes
• Progress on health and dietary practices programme 
implementation
• Progress on health and dietary practices outcomes
Composite variables are calculated by summing the actual completion 
percentages for all key USDA MGD indicators and then comparing 
this rate to the achievement thresholds. It is then possible to plot 
Alignment of USDA supported school feeding programme with government priorities
Through its USDA support, WFP has been working closely with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) to align the existing 
school feeding programme with government priorities moving forward. WFP and MoEYS are working to finalize a School Feeding Road Map 
in 2015 which outlines the pathway to a fully government-owned and operated school feeding programme that is sustainable and focuses 
on five internationally-recognized quality standards;
• Sound alignment with national policy frameworks
• Stable and predictable funding and budgeting
• Quality programme design
• Strong institutional arrangements and coordination for implementation
• Strong community participation and ownership
The School Feeding Road Map specifies the short, medium and long-term actions required by both Government and WFP to ensure a 
fully government-owned school feeding programme by 2021. In the short and medium-term, Government will begin to assume more 
responsibilities in terms of day-to-day management of programmes while also setting up the required financial and institutional mechanisms 
to pay for and manage these programmes. 
WFP, on the other hand, will continue to manage school feeding programmes in close collaboration and partnership with MoEYS, in order 
to ensure there is no duplication with existing Government scholarship programmes and to mainstream the roles and responsibilities of 
managing school feeding programmes into the regular work of government employees, thus eliminating the need to incentivize employees. 
WFP is also modifying its existing implementation models to explore models that would be more suitable for government implementation, 
including the initiation of a “Home-Grown School Feeding” pilot (where food is purchased locally, thus supporting the local economies) and 
a national “lunch programme” pilot (as the government plans in the near future to transition to full day schools). Finally, WFP will also work 
with the MoEYS to design and implement a real-time, responsive monitoring and evaluation system, replete with a complaint mechanism 
to ensure that recipients of government support have avenues to express their thoughts and concerns over the programme. WFP active 
involvement in school feeding programme implementation is expected to last until 2021. At that point, WFP would transition away from 
implementation and become more of a technical assistance provider.
USDA MGD/ WFP Project Achievements
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Programme theory evaluation: 
conclusions
actual process or outcome achievements in relation to each other to 
better understand the holistic effectiveness of WFP programming. 
Progress to date on implementation and outcomes are shown in 
Figures 48-51. As is evident, there have been sizeable advancements 
in terms of programme implementation since baseline, with 59% 
and 72% of implementation targets achieved for the education and 
health and dietary components respectively. This is in comparisons 
to the 13% and the 29% that were achieved at baseline. With such 
improvements observed since baseline, there is every indication that 
WFP will achieve all of its implementation targets by the end of the 
project. 
In terms of outcomes, much was already accomplished as of baseline 
(70% of both education and dietary and health outcomes had 
already been achieved) given that similar programming has been 
ongoing in these schools for a decade or more. A comparison with 
midline findings, however, show that improvements continue, with 
a 3 and 2 percentage point improvement in educational and health 
and dietary outcomes, respectively. Currently, 75% of educational 
outcomes (on aggregate) have been achieved versus 82% of health 
and dietary outcomes. 
A broader discussion on what has improved and why is provided in 
the section below. 
As mentioned previously, WFP is assessing the success and failures 
of the USDA School Feeding Programme through the lens of 
Programme Theory Evaluation. Doing so allows a detailed look at 
the conceptual models underlying the USDA school feeding support 
and most importantly facilitates an assessment of progress to date 
on the individual programme components and how changes in these 
components are affecting child literacy levels and the use of specific 
health and dietary practices.
To visualize progress to date, conceptual models were developed 
with individual programme components colored according to 
current progress towards the achievement of USDA targets. Both 
baseline and midline models are presented side-by-side in order 
to visually illustrate project progress. Likewise, two distinct models 
were developed, one for each Strategic Objective (Improve Literacy 
of School-Aged Children, Increased Use of Health and Dietary 
Practices). Table 1 below illustrates what individual colors denote in 
terms of programme achievements.
According to the programme theory behind the USDA MGD project, 
literacy and health/ dietary practices can be impacted via different 
pathways, including;
Figure 50: Progress in to date in achieving programme outcomes by 
Results Framework (Baseline and midline) for intervention group
Figure 51: Progress in to date in achieving programme outcomes by 
Results Framework (Baseline and midline) by type of programmes
Figure 48: Progress in to date in programme implementation by 
Results Framework (Baseline and midline) for intervention group
Figure 49: Progress in to date in programme implementation by 
Results Framework (Baseline and midline) by type of programmes
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Table 1: Scale of programme achievements.
Literacy is impacted via:
1. Improving the quality of literacy instruction
2. Improving attentiveness and 
3. Improving attendance
Health and dietary practices impacted via:
1. Knowledge on safe food preparation and storage
2. Knowledge of health and hygiene practices
3. Knowledge of nutrition
4. Access to clean water/ improved sanitation
5. Access to preventive health measures
6. Access to requisite food preparation and storage tools and 
equipment
Within each of these key drivers of literacy or health and dietary 
practices, there are sub components, which if addressed, would in 
theory facilitate improvements in these key areas. So for instance, 
to improve quality of literacy instruction, access to and quality of 
literacy instruction materials and general school supplies should 
be improved, while also addressing overall teacher skills and 
commitment. The overall policy environment in which the project 
functions is important as well, with improvements in policy and 
regulatory frameworks necessary as well as improvements in 
government capacity and support.
Below programmatic progress is assessed in terms of the USDA MGD 
strategic objectives of improving literacy as well as health and dietary 
practices.
Progress in improving literacy: Successes and 
remaining obstacles
As figure 52 shows, some key building blocks of better literacy, 
including attentiveness, attendance, government capacity levels and 
local engagement, have all improved significantly since baseline, 
with attentiveness, attendance and government capacity already 
exceeding promised USDA MGD targets. Notably, improvement in 
these areas have lifted literacy levels, with the percent of 6th graders 
able to read at grade level increasing from 57% at baseline to 66% at 
the midpoint of the project. 
Attentiveness has increased as hunger levels have reduced (from 27 
to 17%), suggesting that hunger does indeed play a significant role 
in the ability of children to pay attention in class. Improvements in 
attendance are a bit more nuanced, as improvements in underlying 
indicators are less pronounced. Findings do suggest, however, that 
attendance is impacted significantly by the implementation of the 
programme itself, with school meals and food scholarships providing 
a significant pull factor. This is demonstrated by actual attendance 
rates, with intervention schools showing an 8 percentage point 
improvement in regular attendance. It is also visually displayed by 
the improvements (the shift from 20-39% achievement towards 
targets 80-99%) seen in reaching targets for “increased economic 
and cultural incentives”, which show that more than 12,000 children 
now regularly receive food scholarships and close to 26 million 
school meals have been served to date. 
So while there have been successes, Figure 52 also illustrates the 
key remaining obstacles to improvements in literacy, namely the lack 
of proper policy and regulatory framework as well as a continued 
capacity gap amongst teachers and school administrators. Specifically, 
the government has not drafted and implemented a national school 
feeding policy nor established a national school feeding unit, making 
it difficult for the government to set aside resources and capacities 
to support the programme. Likewise, the knowledge and skills of 
teachers remain quite low, in terms of the targets established for the 
USDA MGD programme. Since the inception of the project, not much 
has changed in this regard, reflecting the scale of the challenge facing 
the government. While WFP is attempting to fill gaps by providing 
trainings on specific issues to teachers and other educators, the 
underlying issue must be addressed head-on by government. WFP 
needs to focus more on providing technical assistance to address 
these structural issues in the final year of the USDA MGD project if 
there is to be substantial improvements in literacy in the near term. 
Progress in improving health and dietary practices: 
Successes and remaining obstacles
As figure 53 illustrates, improvements have been seen across the 
key determinants of increased use of health and dietary practices 
since baseline, with the most significant improvements seen in the 
willingness of government to provide staff to support the school 
feeding programme (in food safety, nutrition and health) and in terms 
of access to preventive health interventions. Notably, the number of 
children dewormed has increased since baseline as has the number 
of schools with access to soap and water. The provision of school 
meals has also greatly expanded the number of children receiving 
micronutrient fortified food (fortified oil and salt) on a daily basis. 
Daily fortification will be enhanced further in the third year of the 
project as WFP will introduce fortified rice into throughout the school 
feeding programme. Notably, improvements in school infrastructure 
have also led to improvements in the number of schools with access 
to improved sanitation, something which should continue to improve 
given that the bulk of the USDA MGD funded infrastructure projects 
are scheduled for year 2 and 3 of the project. 
The key remaining obstacles to achievements of USDA targets again 
appear to be structural and skills-based, with the government yet to 
define water and sanitation standards for the primary schools while 
cooks and storekeepers continue to have limited knowledge on 
nutrition and safe food preparation and storage. Knowledge deficits 
are made worse by the continued problems schools are facing 
in terms of accessing the necessary food preparation and storage 
tools and equipment, hampering food safety issues further. Focus 
on provision of clean water and improved sanitation must also be 
maintained, as achievements in these areas remain low compared 
to targets. 
 Annex 1: Strategic Objective 1: Improve Literacy of School Age 
 Children
 Annex 2: Strategic Objective 2: Increase Use of Health and Dietary 
 Practices
 Annex 3: USDA Midline Survey Methodology
 Annex 4: Socieconomic Characteristics of Midline Survey 
 Respondensts
 Annex 5: Food and Nutrition Security Situation
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Figure 52: Programme Theory on Improving the Literacy of School-Aged Children: Progress at Baseline and Midline
Baseline
Midline
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USDA Midline Survey April 2015
Figure 53: Programme Theory on Increasing the Use of Health and Dietary Practices: Progress at Baseline and Midline
Baseline
Midline