[{"bbox": [146, 147, 1080, 429], "category": "Table", "text": "<table><tr><td></td><td>Reduction of Inequalities @</td><td>☐</td><td>☒</td><td>☐</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Covid-19</td><td>☒</td><td>☐</td><td>☐</td></tr><tr><td colspan=\"5\"><strong>BUDGET INFORMATION</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>12. Amounts concerned</strong></td><td colspan=\"4\">Budget line(s) (article, item): BGUE-B2023-14.020122-C1-INTPA<br/>Total estimated cost: EUR 27 000 000<br/>Total amount of EU budget contribution EUR 27 000 000</td></tr><tr><td colspan=\"5\"><strong>MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>13. Type of financing</strong></td><td colspan=\"4\">Direct management through Grants<br/>Indirect management with the entity to be selected in accordance with the criteria set out in section 4.4.2</td></tr></table>"}, {"bbox": [147, 443, 462, 474], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 1.2 Summary of the Action"}, {"bbox": [144, 485, 1082, 617], "category": "Text", "text": "The Action will support the expansion of school meals in primary schools and Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in seven districts of Malawi, while improving market opportunities for smallholder producers, as preferred suppliers to the schools. The Action will follow the Homegrown School Feeding (HGSF) approach, which is the Government's preferred modality for delivering school meals."}, {"bbox": [144, 630, 1082, 898], "category": "Text", "text": "The Action will work with District Councils to ensure that school learners receive diversified school meals throughout the school terms. This will ensure regular access to healthy food for pupils, contributing to a better nutrition and better school performance. It will also increase school attendance, hence contribution to primary school completion rate, especially for girls who are most at risk of dropping out. As the nutritious food composition will be purchased from local farmer groups around the selected schools, the Action will boost agricultural commercialisation and increase income generating opportunities for smallholders, mostly parents of the pupils receiving school meals, triggering a virtuous cycle of socio-economic empowerment of the community. Through a crisis modifier, it will provide safety nets for households in times of crisis (should schools be closed again due to a pandemic or should farmers require support to face a challenging planting season)."}, {"bbox": [144, 908, 1082, 1148], "category": "Text", "text": "This Action will expand the existing investment under the Tsogolo la Thanzi (TSOLATA) – “Healthy Future” intervention, implemented in four districts of the South of Malawi and 200 primary schools, adding three more districts and doubling the number of targeted primary school. It will also expand the school meals to ECD centres, following the MIP's priority of empowering women and girls throughout the lifecycle, which is in line with the Gender Action Plan III². Since it contributes to primary school completion, it also lays the foundations for the EU support to secondary education. The Action will seek to build synergies with ongoing programmes on sustainable agriculture and nutrition (Kulima and Afikepo programmes), supporting agricultural diversification and increased productivity and nutrition education at community level."}, {"bbox": [144, 1160, 1082, 1294], "category": "Text", "text": "The Action contributes to MIP Priority Area 1, Green and Resilient Economic Transformation, in particular specific objective 1.1, Boosting productivity, resilience, diversification and commercialisation for agriculture and fisheries. It will also contribute to MIP Priority Area 3, Human Development and Social Inclusion, in particular specific objective 3.2, strengthening social protection systems."}, {"bbox": [144, 1305, 1082, 1439], "category": "Text", "text": "With this Action, the EU will become the main partner for Government in the area of school meals and will reinforce the existing engagements in nutrition (Afikepo programme), agricultural diversification and support to smallholders (Kulima programme) and social protection (social cash transfers). Finally, as part of the TEI Green Growth, following a food systems approach, the Action will develop synergies with other nutrition interventions, and with activities in support of sustainable farming and agribusiness."}, {"bbox": [144, 1563, 1080, 1614], "category": "Footnote", "text": "² EU joined communication on the EU Gender Action Plan - an Ambitious Agenda For Gender Equality And Women's Empowerment In EU External Action."}, {"bbox": [975, 1680, 1080, 1705], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 3 of 26"}]