Does the school feeding program have an impact on the development of human capital? Results from the Burkina Faso experience using the micro-simulation method

Summary School feeding program is one of the world’s most popular interventions for school-age children. Under-investment in this age group is a major obstacle to human capital development. This study aims to provide evidence on the impact of school meals on student survival, nutrition and education. This study is based on the method of dynamic micro-simulation of the behavior of schoolchildren consuming school canteen meals. The statistical software R was used to process both the individual data and to write the model. A cohort of 1,000 beneficiary schoolchildren was used to observe the impact of this canteen during the primary cycle. Simulation at 100% coverage of the school year shows a cost USD 18,489 per year and per beneficiary, and over the six years of the primary cycle: i) saves three lives out of every 1,000 pupils, ii) gives each pupil around 3 months more life, iii) saves 121 pupils from dropping out of school, and iv) reduces the level of stunted growth from 18.5% to 9.8%, i.e. a reduction of 8.7% in six years. The results indicate the higher the level of school feeding coverage, the greater its impact on human capital development in Burkina Faso.