Food Aid in the Form of Food for Education - A Critical Analysis between the Food for Schooling Programme and the School Feeding Programme in Maslow's and Dependency Theorist's Perspectives

According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, food is considered a basic physiological need and higher-ordered needs can only be achieved if the basic needs are met. In the education context, for learners to concentrate on learning and for educational institutions to achieve high-quality learning, learners’ physiological needs i.e. food and water must be met before delivering teaching and learning activities. Therefore, different countries introduced ‘Food for Education’ in a form of ‘School Feeding Programme’ and ‘Food For schooling Programme’ to achieve quality education and to redistribute food to poor families. While both programmes might have advantages, this essay argues that a ‘School Feeding Programme’, that practises ‘Onsite Feeding’ can achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, i.e. quality equitable life long learning for all learners. Conversely, a ‘Food for School Programme’ can increase enrolment of both boys and girls, however, it might fail to achieve quality learning and, furthermore, can develop a dependency mentality. Moreover, food delivered as aid is often used to pursue donors’ interests so recipient countries should be monitored, to ensure such aid is carefully directed to priority areas to achieve maximum benefit. Failure can result in recipient countries facing unintended consequences. This essay concludes that the School Feeding Programme should be used for achieving quality learning and to avoid unintended consequences and break the cycle of poverty faced by the underprivileged.