What Works: School Meals

There is a significant—and growing—body of evidence that well-designed and effectively delivered school meal programs are a cost-effective and scalable means to build human capital, improve learning outcomes, and improve health and nutrition. Despite setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, school meals programs have remained one of the largest social safety nets in the world, with 418 million children now benefiting from programs, an increase of 30 million from the level prior to 2020. Policymakers are eager to use this lever for change, as evidenced by the 76 national governments that have joined the School Meals Coalition (SMC) since its creation in 2021.