CSR and CERT Collaboration: Measuring the Impact of School Feeding Programmes

The Centre for Social Research (CSR) and the Centre for Educational Research and Training (CERT), both based at the University of Malawi, are currently collaborating with the Centre for Global Development (CGD) on the Impact Evaluation of the Tsogolo La Thanzi (TSOLATA) II School Feeding Programme in Malawi. TSOLATA II is being implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP) in partnership with the Government of Malawi through the Department of School Health and Nutrition within the Ministry of Education, with funding from the European Union.

According to Ms. Esme Kadzamira, a Research Fellow at CSR, this evaluation is part of the second phase of the Tsogolo la Thanzi project, which began in 2024. “The evaluation is being conducted in four education districts—Rumphi, Mzimba North, Mzimba South, and Nkhata Bay—and is designed to assess the impact of the Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programme,” she explained.

The evaluation includes three phases of data collection: baseline in 2024, midline in 2025, and endline in 2026. The primary objective is to estimate the causal impact of the HGSF programme on several key outcomes such as the nutritional status of school-going children, learning outcomes and educational performance, and income and welfare of local smallholder farmers who supply food to the programme.

Ms. Kadzamira further noted that the evaluation covers 400 primary schools and approximately 156 Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres across the four districts. While CERT is primarily responsible for assessing learning outcomes, including conducting school attendance surveys and price monitoring, CSR is focusing on household surveys and anthropometric measurements (height and weight) of children aged 3 to 15 years from selected households.

Ms. Jane Kayange, projector coordinator at CSR and one of the co-investigators of the project, shared that training of enumerators has been carried out as one of the major activities of the project. They will be responsible for field data collection. “To prepare for the midline data collection, we trained 84 enumerators who will be deployed across the four districts. The training began on Monday, 9th June 2025, and concluded on Friday, 13th June 2025. Fieldwork for the midline survey is scheduled to start on Monday, 16th June 2025,” she said.

She further emphasized that the Centre for Social Research has established itself as a credible source of evidence to inform policy and programming both locally and internationally. “Our participation in this evaluation will ensure that the evidence generated contributes to more effective and sustainable school feeding strategies in Malawi and beyond,” she concluded.

The participation of the CSR and the CERT in this significant evaluation reaffirms the University of Malawi’s role as a key partner in advancing government-led development projects, and also showcases the strength and credibility of its research institutions. This collaboration highlights the university’s capacity to lead rigorous, impactful research that addresses the country’s most pressing challenges.