Assessment Studies on The Economic Costs of an Integrated School Gardening in School Feeding Program

Project Objective

The main objectives of the study are

• To determine the cost and cost-effectiveness of using School Feeding Models to implement an integrated agriculture and nutrition intervention compared to the status quo.
• To gain deeper understanding of resource allocation and identify potential areas for optimization or cost-sharing through community participation and local resource utilization, ultimately contribute to ensuring the program’s long-term sustainability and effectiveness in improving food security and nutritional well-being for children.

Project Description

Recognize the important of improving the nutrition and education of children, Cambodia government is implementing school feeding program collaboratively with local and international NGOs. The implementation of this program will improve food security, education, health and nutrition, local economy and agriculture, partnership and coordination across the sector. However, to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of the program, an economic evaluation is needed in order to assess for a broader scale of implementation. SEEMS-Nutrition Common Approach framework will be employed for conducting economic evaluations of nutrition interventions. CDRI will rigorously identify school feeding projects for the cost-effectiveness study and assess the the specific resources, inputs, infrastructure, and personnel requirements associated with each project, differentiating between initial capital expenditure and ongoing operational costs for food, equipment, and personnel. This process will be done by conducting a detailed document review, FGDs and KIIs in Kampong Thom Province.