cowtreemoon← 🇱🇦 Laos
Food & FarmingNGO

50,000 Lao Students Fed by a School-Lunch Pilot Now Run by the State in 302 Schools

by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Laos · HQ 🇺🇸 United States

#children#education#food-security#livelihoods
0schoolsSchools transitioned to the national school lunch programmeas of 2026-09-27
0studentsStudents who received school meals since 2022as of 2026-09-27
0cooksSchool cooks trained in nutrition, food safety and hygieneas of 2026-09-27

Catholic Relief Services ran the LEAPS III project in Savannakhet province, designing and piloting school lunches with the Ministry of Education and Sports. More than 50,000 students received meals since 2022, and 1,618 school cooks were trained in nutrition, food safety and hygiene. Farmer groups in all six target districts were supported to set up greenhouse production of fresh vegetables for school meals. At a celebration on 23-24 September 2026, all 302 schools were handed over to the government's National School Lunch Programme, after USDA funding ended in May 2025 and CRS raised extra funds to finish the final year.

visit website ↗The Star: Over 300 more schools join Lao national school meals programme ↗
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