Each year, Nepal’s national budget demonstrates a commitment to addressing interconnected development challenges, including abandoned classrooms, entrenched gender gaps, childhood malnutrition, and economic potential constrained by poverty, through strategic investment in school meal programs. The returns have been substantial. Schools across the country have reported improvements in student attendance and enrollment. The economic case is equally compelling as every dollar invested in school meals generates returns exceeding five times its initial value. These impressive returns highlight the impact of school meal programs. Yet, significant barriers continue to prevent their full potential in Nepal. This article explores school meal programs in Nepal, reviews the legal framework supporting them, analyzes the program’s achievements and persistent challenges, and offers recommendations for strengthening implementation.
What are School Meal Programs (SMPs)?
School meal programs (SMPs) are initiatives that provide children with nutritious meals, snacks, or take-home rations. By utilizing schools as a delivery platform, SMPs improve children’s nutrition and health while increasing school attendance and enhancing learning outcomes. Beyond these immediate benefits, the broader objectives of SMPs include reducing hunger, providing social safety nets, and addressing gender-specific barriers to education. In many high-income countries, SMPs also aim to prevent or mitigate childhood obesity through improved nutritional standards. According to the World Food Program (WFP), 107 countries have a school meals policy in place as of 2024.
Current Legal Landscape of Nepal
The Constitution of Nepal, 2015, guarantees both free and compulsory basic education and the right to food. Building on this constitutional foundation, the Compulsory and Free Education Act, 2018 and its Regulations of 2020 have legally institutionalized mid-day meal provisions to support the children of families who are economically disadvantaged, socially marginalized, or have members with disabilities, in coordination with the local governments. These provisions are further reinforced by the National Education Policy, 2019, which seeks to promote continued education for these children through initiatives such as the school meal program. The School Mid-Day Meal Management Support Manual, 2020 provides operational guidelines for schools on meal preparation, nutritional standards, procurement processes, and quality assurance mechanisms.
More recently, the government rolled out the Nutritious School Mid-Day Meal Format Based on Local Production, 2024 with the aim of connecting school meal programs with local agricultural production, promoting the use of fresh, locally-sourced ingredients to strengthen both student nutrition and rural economies. Further reinforcing this commitment, the Integrated National Social Security Structure, 2023 by the National Planning Commission formally recognizes mid-day meals as a social security program. Looking ahead, the School Education Sector Plan, 2022-2032 projects serving 5.3 million students from Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) to grade 8 with school meals by 2032.
School Meal Programs in Nepal
The history of school meals in Nepal extends over several decades, predating current policy frameworks. The modern iteration of targeted school feeding began on August 30, 1967, when Nepal launched mid-day meals across 37 districts with the Food for Education Project (FFEP), supported by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The initiative specifically targeted communities lacking access to basic facilities. Over subsequent decades, the program underwent numerous transformations in scope, targeting, and delivery mechanisms before arriving at its current structure.
Today, Nepal’s primary school feeding initiative is the government-funded Mid-Day Meal Program (MDMP), known locally as “Diwa Khaja Karyakram,” with financing allocated through the national budget. The program provides nutritious meals to nearly 3 million children from Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) to grade five in all community schools across the country’s 77 districts, including 100,000 students supported by WFP in three remote districts of Sudurpaschim province. Under MDMP, the government provides cash transfers directly to schools, which then either prepare meals in-house or outsource food preparation. A smaller complementary initiative, the Food for Education Program (Shiksha ko Lagi Khadhya Karyakram), distributes food items directly to schools rather than cash.
The government allocated NPR 15 (USD 0.10) per student per day until FY 2024/25 for the MPMD. Starting FY 2025/26, this allocation was increased to NPR 20 (USD 0.14) per student per day. The allowance is provided for 180 days each year, with funding distributed based on school enrollment data, that is monitored and verified by local governments before disbursement. Despite the increase, schools reportedly continue to receive the previous rate of NPR 15 (USD 0.10) instead of NPR 20 (USD 0.14). The program also incorporates important variations to address regional and social disparities. The federal government provides higher allowances to economically disadvantaged regions, notably Karnali.
Beyond federal funding, local governments and international partners provide complementary support. In 2023, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) announced supplementing the federal allocation with an additional NPR 10 (USD 0.07), totaling NPR 25 (USD 0.17) for grades up to 5. They also announced the daily allowance of NPR 25 (USD 0.17) for grades 6-10. Similar to KMC, several other local bodies, both within and outside the districts, provide additional support to school meal allowances. On the other hand, in 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced USD 33 million for school meals through partnership with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and WFP, further strengthening program capacity. In addition to financial support, the WFP has been providing technical assistance and capacity strengthening support.
Demonstrated Impacts
Children from poorer households are more likely to attend public and community schools, as shown in the Nepal Living Standards Survey IV (2022/23 AD), making school meal programs a crucial intervention for supporting vulnerable populations while simultaneously improving educational access and alleviating classroom hunger.
The positive impacts of Nepal’s mid-day meal program are evident across diverse contexts, from Padmakanya Vidyashram Secondary School in Dillibazar, Kathmandu to the more rural Dipendra Primary School in Wangemarot, Pyuthan where the program has proven effective in improving student attendance and enrollment. The program has also been shown to help address child marriage by incentivizing parents to keep daughters in school. An evaluation by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2014 of a school feeding intervention in one district of Nepal found that the program contributed to increased access to education, particularly for girls and vulnerable children. The Gender Parity Index (GPI) for primary schools in the district rose from 0.97 to 0.99, indicating a potential link between the intervention and improved gender parity in enrollment.
The economic impact is equally substantial. A 2018 study found that every dollar invested generates returns of USD 5.2, as parents redirect household savings toward income-generating activities. Successful integration of school meal programs with local agriculture, as envisioned in the Nutritious School Mid-Day Meal Format Based on Local Production, 2024, can create steady demand, stimulate local agricultural production, and strengthen rural economies.
Critical Challenges
Despite these achievements, severe constraints limit the program’s reach and effectiveness. The most pressing challenge is inadequate funding. According to research conducted at Gupteshori Basic School in 2025, 54% of stakeholders recommended budget increases, reflecting inadequacy in the budget. The Ministry of Education reported in 2022 that government funding covers only 20-30% of the total cost of midday meals, with the remainder dependent on non-governmental and inter-governmental donor agencies. This funding gap has significant consequences. Only 37% of community schools provide daily meals, while the remaining schools offer partial coverage or no program at all, depriving students of a fundamental right.
Infrastructure deficiencies further compound these challenges. In 2022, some schools were forced to distribute cash directly to guardians due to space constraints for meal preparation, increasing risks of fund misuse and students receiving nutritionally inadequate foods purchased from the market. In addition, remote Himalayan districts face challenging terrain that often causes delays in food delivery, further limiting students’ access to regular meals.
The effectiveness of Nepal’s mid-day meal program is hindered by several bureaucratic and administrative challenges as well. The 62nd Annual Report for FY 2023/24 AD (2080/81 BS) of The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) revealed that 124 local governments spent NPR 279.9 million (USD 1.95 million) without maintaining certified attendance records, raising serious concerns about financial oversight and program integrity. Implementation of locally-produced meals faces multiple obstacles including difficulties for small-quantity purchases from farmers, insufficient production support for local agriculture, and inadequate inter-ministerial coordination.
Perhaps most troubling, extreme poverty prevents the most vulnerable communities, such as the Musahar, from sending children to school despite meal availability, as families must prioritize immediate income needs and cannot afford basic school supplies.
Moving Forward
As school meal programs are multi-sectoral in nature, addressing the challenges in Nepal’s mid-day meal program requires coordinated action across multiple stakeholders. A WFP survey in 2013 showed that in 43 out of 59 countries, the Ministries of Agriculture and Health play important roles alongside the Ministry of Education in the implementation of school meal programs. This demonstrates the need for stronger collaboration among different ministries and sectors in Nepal. Nepal can also learn from countries such as Brazil, Ghana, Kenya, and Mali, where the government works with universities and research institutions to assess the effectiveness of the school feeding programs. As Nepal advances its digital governance agenda, implementing digital monitoring and evaluation systems could significantly strengthen accountability and transparency in program delivery.
In several countries, new structures such as School Feeding Committees or Councils, School Implementing Committees, and School-Based Monitoring Committees have been established at local level to increase community engagement. These mechanisms have strengthened oversight, improved meal quality, and enhanced program sustainability. Local employment opportunities have also been created by promoting community-based agricultural production and engaging local residents as cooks and helpers in preparing meals and drinks. Nepal can adopt similar practices to enhance program quality and boost local livelihoods.
However, systemic solutions must extend beyond the meal program itself. With 20.27% of Nepal’s population living below the poverty line, targeted poverty alleviation initiatives are essential. Simply incentivizing poor families to send children to school is insufficient when households lack basic economic security and cannot afford school supplies. Comprehensive approaches that address root causes of poverty will ultimately prove more effective than programs that treat symptoms alone.
Nepal’s mid-day meal program demonstrates how strategic investment in child nutrition can generate transformative returns across education, health, gender equity, and economic development. Nepal has established a solid legal framework and accumulated strong evidence of the program’s impact. However, persistent underfunding, inadequate infrastructure, weak accountability mechanisms, and operational challenges limit the program’s effectiveness. As Nepal strives toward its 2032 goal of reaching more than 5.3 million students, the decisive factor will be whether it can match the program’s proven value with the resources required to sustain and expand it. The debate is no longer about the effectiveness of school meals. It is about whether Nepal will fully recognize the transformative evidence and commit the investment needed to achieve its objectives.
Aaryan Kuikel is a Beed Fellow at beed management. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Kathmandu University with a major in Finance. Prior to joining beed, he interned at TEAM Ventures, an alternative investment firm, where he gained experience in financial markets, the private equity landscape, and climate investing.
