Ivory Coast
The WISHH pilot project in the Ivory Coast involves the evaluation of textured soy protein in school feeding programs. The collaborating agencies are: WISHH, WFP (World Food Programme), DNC (Directorate Nationale des Cantines), and ADM Cocoa (Archer Daniels Midland). ADM donated money and textured soy protein products for the project. WFP handled the procurement of the product from America to the port of Abidjan. DNC and WFP is responsible for distributing the product from the port to the WFP’s regional warehouses. WISHH is responsible for the overall supervision of the project, including training cooks and evaluating the acceptance of the soy products by school children. The project calls for the textured soy to be consumed over a three-month period by about 40,000 children, attending 139 schools.
Each school has a cook and a manager. The cook prepares the meals for the school children. The manager is responsible for managing the budget, including the expenditures and receipts. WFP donates the following items per pupil: rice (150 grams), lentils (30 grams), and oil (10 grams). The school purchases any additional foods that it may want to include along with the WFP contribution. Depending on the school, this may include such food items as vegetables (onions, tomatoes, okra, cabbage, carrots are common), canned fish, dried fish, or “Maggi” cubes (meat flavoring cubes). It is common for the schools to have about 150 pupils. The school lunch is not free. The cost to the pupil is 25 CFA. For more information on the WISHH project in the Ivory Coast, contact the WISHH office.
