Cases of Poverty Reduction and Income Increase- Farmers’ Participation in the Supply Chain of the Nutritional Meals for Kindergartens Based on the Realities of Rural Areas

In September 2018, the "Pilot Project for the Nutrition Improvement of Preschool Students in Xiangxi" (hereinafter referred to as the project) was officially launched by WFP. Supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas of the People's Republic of China and organized by WFP, it is an innovative pilot one and aims to improve the nutrition of rural preschool children. Longshan and Yongshun Counties, two poverty-stricken areas in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province, China, were designated to be the first pilot counties in China in 2018. By involving the two counties into the pilot project, WFP aims to effectively solve the malnutrition and ensure the sufficient nutrition of local children by improving the food quality and dining environment of local children. At the same time, in line with the national targeted poverty alleviation strategy, targeted assistance has been provided to some households registered as living under the poverty line.

Two intervention measures have been adopted in the project: Firstly, children have free access to nutritional lunches in the relevant kindergartens so as to improve their nutrition and develop children’s bodies; Secondly, the project helps poor households to establish a stable procurement chain and encourages small holders to participate in the direct supply of meals. The main measures are as follows: 1) upgrading the kitchen facilities and dining environment of the kindergartens; 2) holding various activities and publicity campaigns to better disseminate the knowledge about nutrition among the children, caregivers, kindergarten teachers, principals and kitchen staff; 3) purchasing agricultural products from local impoverished small farmers, helping reach the partnership between them and selected kindergartens, and organizing training on agricultural technology and food safety. The kindergartens conduct a thorough investigation according to the requirements of the county-level PMO, and finally determine which impoverished farmers are the assistance targets. The kindergartens, the PMO and farmers have reached the agreement on planting, breeding, production and marketing of agricultural products. Nutritional food ingredients for kindergartens shall be purchased from farmers in a certain proportion, and the agreement will also determine the varieties supplied by farmers according to the planting scale and types of farmers. Since the implementation of the project, 3,473 preschool children in 27 kindergartens in Yongshun County and Longshan County have been provided with free nutritional meals by subsidizing 4 yuan for each preschool child per school day.

Taking the Impoverished Families in the Kindergartens as the Assistance Targets so as to Realize the Goals of Targeted Poverty Alleviation and Food Security

One good practice in the project is that the project management office (PMO), kindergartens and farmers have reached a tripartite agreement. According to the requirements of the PMO, the kindergartens select and determine the contracted farmers according to the following four conditions: first, the farmers must be poor households registered as living under the poverty line; Second, farmers ought to be the parents of the children in the kindergartens; Third, farmers must have a certain production capacity and a certain amount of land and labor capacity; Fourth, farmers need to be willing to produce the agricultural products and voluntarily participate in the project.

How to ensure the quality and safety of food supplied by farmers has always been a problem for the kindergartens’ food supplied by small holders. In order to solve this problem, the project requires that the farmers must be the parents of children in the kindergartens, so as to establish a dynamic entry and exit mechanism to help farmers. As the children from the impoverished households also need to have meals in kindergartens, farmers will provide the freshest vegetables to kindergartens, and will not or rarely use pesticides. Therefore, by assisting the impoverished households with children in the kindergartens, the project not only realizes the targeted poverty alleviation and effectively reduces the burden on parents, but also ensures the quality and safety of food supply. This is a special method that can ensure both targeted poverty alleviation and food safety.

According the Realities, the Kindergartens Actively Exploring Plans to Alleviate the Difficulties of Assistance

With the demands for vegetables, kindergartens have a fixed and limited number of students, so the demand for vegetables is relatively fixed but small. The vegetable supply of farmers changes dynamically. When the supply cannot meet the demand, conflicts and problems occur. In order to solve this problem, kindergartens have adopted the practice of appropriately intervening in farmers' vegetable planting. In the peak season of vegetable production, kindergartens have negotiated with contracted farmers and different farmers agree to plant different vegetable varieties, so that farmers do not plant the same variety of vegetables in a short time. At the same time, kindergartens have gardens to plant some watermelon, citrus and other fruits. By planting fruits by themselves, kindergartens are able to alleviate the problem of limited funds, enhance children's dietary education, and provide children with more balanced and comprehensive nutrition.

Various Factors Taken into Consideration in the Kindergartens' Menus

The relevant kindergartens have adjusted the menus to adapt to the production types and structure of local farmers. Chen Yuanchang of Guanba Kindergarten said that after signing the agreement, she has comprehensively considered the following factors when formulating the kindergarten menu: first, the children's preferences and flavors have been considered. For example, children like corns, but it is not the season for the designated farmers to harvest corns yet. Therefore, the principals of kindergartens will purchase corns from the market; Secondly, the availability of products in the market has also been considered. For example, beef is generally not available in the small towns. However, for the sake of nutritional value and the impact on children's dietary structure, the principals of kindergartens generally purchase beef in the counties when they fetch the free milk from Mengniu Group on weekends; Thirdly, the seasonal supply of farmers is another factor. For example, it is the season for farmers to harvest potatoes. When designing the menus, the principals of kindergartens include potato stewed ribs in the menu, which not only meets the preferences of children, but also helps farmers sell some agricultural products; Fourthly, the menus also pay attention to the food matching. For example, the eggs and milk have been consciously provided to the children at the same time.

Win-win Cooperation: Happy Supply of Farmers, Reassuring Purchase of Principals of Kindergartens and Eating at Ease

Farmers can enjoy many benefits from school meals. First of all, the local farmers can reduce the loss and waste of agricultural products, and increase income. In the past, vegetables and fruits often got rotten in the fields, resulting in food loss. At present, surplus agricultural products can be sold to kindergartens at market prices, so farmers can earn part of their income and cover some household daily expenses; Secondly, compared with selling in the market, the direct purchase from the kindergartens saves the farmers’ trouble from waiting in the long queue in the market, avoids retail, saves time and greatly reduces transaction costs; In addition, market sales are often vulnerable to the changes of supply and demand, and the price fluctuates greatly, so the purchase price of kindergartens is more stable.

Xiang Mei is a designated farmer in the Smurfs Kindergarten in Yongshun County. Also, she is the chef of that kindergarten. Her family plants rice paddies and vegetables at home, and more than half of the output is supplied to kindergartens. As the chef of the kindergarten, she is familiar with the menus of the kindergartens and knows well about the purchase of daily ingredients and the needs for long-term agricultural products. She plucks the corresponding ingredients from his own field and bring them to the kindergartens according to the menus of the kindergartens every day, which not only ensures the sound dietary structure of children in strict accordance with the menus, but also ensures the food safety by providing the freshest ingredients. After learning the nutrition knowledge taught by Xiangxi Prefecture Government, Smurfs Kindergarten has adjusted the menus greatly, and the diversity of children's diet has increased. The kindergarten will suggest what kinds of agricultural products she needs to grow in the field next season according to the demand of ingredients, so as to meet the diversified needs of the kindergarten. Xiang Mei is also happy to change the planting varieties. At present, she has increased the planting of peanut, pumpkin, white gourd and other varieties.

The principals of the gardens are more assured of the quality and safety of the ingredients supplied by farmers. Because the feeding farmers are the parents of kindergarten children, most of planted vegetables are seasonal, and farmyard fertilizer and organic fertilizer are used in the planting process, the nutrition and safety of vegetables are more guaranteed. In addition, the principals of the gardens grasp the information of vegetables and poultry from farmers, so the information asymmetry in the process of ingredients procurement can be solved, and time and transaction cost can be reduced accordingly. At the same time, purchasing farmers' ingredients also help kindergartens gain a good reputation locally. Because farmers are the parents of kindergarten children, through word-of-mouth, kindergartens which purchase farm products from farmers, often have a better reputation, which virtually increases their competitiveness in local student enrolment.

More Self-esteem and Sense of Achievement among Women by Women's Empowerment

The two households contracted by the Landian Town’s Central Kindergarten in Longshan County are young women. Previously, they all took care of their children at home without work and financial support. Now they can get hundreds of yuan for delivering vegetables once. They can use the income as pocket money for children's snacks and daily expenses. Women's status, happiness and sense of gain have been significantly improved.

The participation of poor holders in the supply of nutritional ingredients in kindergartens not only reflects the inclusiveness of the food system to vulnerable groups, but also reduces the transportation distance of food ingredients and carbon emissions in the transportation process. It is a very beneficial exploration and practice for the green and low-carbon development of the school food supply chain and the sustainability of the food system.