Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Providing food through schools has well documented benefits in terms of the education, health and nutrition of school children. However, there is limited evidence regarding the benefits of sourcing the food from small-holder farmers through ‘home-grown’ school feeding approaches. This study aims to evaluate the impact of school feeding programmes sourced from small-holder farmers on small-holder food security, as well as on school children’s education, health and nutrition in Mali.
Who can participate?
Primary school age children and small-holder farmer households in targeted villages in Mali.
What does the study involve?
Households and schools will be randomly assigned to one of the following three groups:
1. Regular school feeding programme group: these are schools and villages where the standard Government programme is implemented, with Mayors responsible for sourcing the food.
2. Home-grown school feeding and social accountability group (HGSF+): these are schools and villages were the programme is implemented in addition to training of community organisations and local government on food sourcing, nutrition education, and feedback monitoring.
3. Control group: these are schools and household from villages were the intervention will not be implemented.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
School feeding programmes have been shown to have benefits in terms of school enrolment, attendance and drop-out. The main risks are issues related to inappropriate food management and preparation. Training activities will be provided to reduce this risk.
Where is the study run from?
The Partnership for Child Development offices in Bamako, Mali.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study is underway and will be completed in December 2014.
Who is funding the study?
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (USA).
Who is the main contact?
Dr Lesley Drake
Lesley.Drake@imperial.ac.uk
Trial website
Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Dr Lesley Drake
ORCID ID
Contact details
Partnership for Child Development
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Imperial College London
London
W2 1PG
United Kingdom
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Lesley.Drake@imperial.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
N/A
Study information
Scientific title
Community participation and the links between agriculture, nutrition and education: design of a randomised field experiment of 'home-grown' school feeding in Mali
Acronym
Study hypothesis
School feeding programmes provide well documented direct benefits to school children and their families. Emerging evidence also suggests that they can provide a stable market for goods and services. This is the first randomised control trial that will examine this in detail.
Ethics approval
Not provided at time of registration
Study design
Randomised control trial
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Schools
Trial type
Quality of life
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Condition
School health and nutrition
Intervention
The evaluation will measure outcomes at child, household and school level. Households and schools will be randomly assigned to the intervention. Three treatment arms are envisaged:
Control group:
These are schools and household from villages were the intervention will not be implemented. The intervention will be delayed by at least two years in these villages, preferably without informing schools and households.
Regular school feeding programme group:
These are schools and villages where the standard Government programme is implemented, with Mayors responsible for the food procurement.
Home grown school feeding and social accountability group (HGSF+):
These are schools and villages were the programme is implemented in addition to a capacity building component including training of community-based organisations and local government on food procurement, nutrition education, and feedback monitoring.
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Not Applicable
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
Small-holder farmer income, school participation and learning, and community involvement in the programme
Secondary outcome measures
1. Nutritional status (anthropometry)
2. Diet-diversity
Overall trial start date
01/02/2012
Overall trial end date
01/04/2014
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
Primary school age children (aged 5-15) and their families, small holder farmers
Participant type
Healthy volunteer
Age group
Mixed
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
The study population includes 5700 children, 1740 households, 116 schools and 58 mayors. Households will be selected at random from village level listings.
Participant exclusion criteria
Households with children not of primary school age
Recruitment start date
01/02/2012
Recruitment end date
01/04/2014
Locations
Countries of recruitment
Mali
Trial participating centre
Imperial College London
London
W2 1PG
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
Imperial College London (UK)
Sponsor details
c/o Prof. Neil Furguson
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
St Mary's Campus
London
W2 1PG
United Kingdom
Sponsor type
University/education
Website
Funders
Funder type
Charity
Funder name
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Alternative name(s)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Funding Body Type
private sector organisation
Funding Body Subtype
Trusts, charities, foundations (both publically funded and privately funded)
Location
United States of America
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list
2013 protocol in: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23433395
Publication citations
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Protocol
Masset E, Gelli A, Improving community development by linking agriculture, nutrition and education: design of a randomised trial of "home-grown" school feeding in Mali., Trials, 2013, 14, 55, doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-14-55.