Governmental Decree No. 456 validating the Strategy for the sustainable development of school feeding in the Republic of Tajikistan until 2027.

The scope of this multi-sectoral Strategy for the sustainable development of school feeding in the Republic of Tajikistan until 2027 shall be to help the most vulnerable social groups ensuring provision of food to more than 70,000 primary schoolchildren in 2,000 schools in 52 districts most vulnerable to food insecurity. The Concept of School Feeding Improvement in general education institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan defines main goals, directions, tasks and mechanisms of implementation of the state policy of the Republic of Tajikistan in the sphere of school feeding development. Its implementation became the basis for the general assessment of the situation and development of further steps to ensure healthy nutrition, development of educational potential, ensuring food security, improving the welfare of the population, as well as ensuring socio-economic development of the country. The Strategy was developed on the basis of a general analysis of the current school feeding situation and defines goals, objectives, main directions for further development of the school feeding system, main stages of implementation, planned results and indicators, as well as the organization of monitoring and evaluation of the achievement of planned results. The Strategy envisages a gradual expansion of the school feeding system in general education institutions depending on the economic opportunities, social and demographic development of the Republic of Tajikistan and certain regions. The Strategy has been developed taking into account the possibility of providing free meals to children from poor families and partial co-financing of the cost of school meals for low-income families. The implementation of the Strategy and the national school feeding program based on its provisions should result in the formation of a modern school feeding sector in the Republic of Tajikistan. The provisions of the Strategy will be taken into account in the development and implementation of state programs in the field of education and social development, health care, development of the agro-industrial complex, improvement of the welfare of the population.
The Republic of Tajikistan imports more than half of the required foodstuffs, making its population particularly dependent on fluctuations in world prices. The level of food security in the Republic of Tajikistan in terms of physical and economic accessibility of foodstuffs is gradually increasing, but their accessibility remains insufficient due to the economic crisis and frequent natural disasters, which necessitates the development of food production and distribution systems. Improving the nutritional status of the population remains a pressing problem. Chronic malnutrition continues to affect 26 per cent of children under 5 years of age and acute malnutrition (hypotrophy) affects 10 per cent. Many women and children also suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, reflected in high levels of anemia and iodine deficiency. The burden of malnutrition in Tajikistan is a significant economic factor, accounting for $41 million annually in the United States of America due to loss of working capacity and productivity. About 40 per cent of school-age children's illnesses result from malnutrition, including poor school feeding, undernourishment, lack of motivation in families to lead a healthy lifestyle and lack of compliance with hygiene standards.
In order to ensure the formation and sustainable development of the school feeding system, it is necessary to solve a set of problems related to the development of production, transport and processing infrastructure, the private sector, the expansion of access to land resources, the development of irrigation, electricity, heat and water supply systems. It is also necessary to improve the sphere of education, health care and social services, taking into account significant differences in the development of certain regions of the Republic of Tajikistan, to expand the participation of parents, to ensure the growth of living standards of the population.
To ensure sustainable development of school feeding in the Republic of Tajikistan, the following problems must be resolved: (a) improvement of the state policy and legal and regulatory framework necessary to address the problems of sustainable development of school feeding in the Republic of Tajikistan; (b) institutional support and coordination of activities of state bodies, persons and organizations concerned; (c) ensuring stable financing and planning; (d) development and implementation of the state program of school feeding development; and (e) public participation in the development of school feeding and related sectors of the economy. The main directions of action to improve the state policy and regulatory framework necessary to address the challenges of sustainable development of school feeding in the Republic of Tajikistan shall be as follows: (a) development and approval of the procedure for financing the nutrition of students in general education institutions, which defines the categories of students entitled to receive a subsidy for school meals, including free, partially subsidized school meals, and the procedure for their provision; (b) development and approval of standard requirements for the procurement of goods and services for school meals within the current system of public procurement; and (c) development and approval of norms for granting subsidies for partial reimbursement of construction, reconstruction, modernization and creation of new enterprises, production and logistics centers and social catering facilities, as well as for compensation of logistics costs resulting from the supply of goods by local producers.
The main directions of actions to ensure effective development and implementation of the state program of sustainable development of school feeding in the Republic of Tajikistan shall be as follows: (a) identification and implementation of the most promising models of school feeding for certain categories of schools, population groups and regions, takes measures for their dissemination; (b) development of dietary intake based on ongoing scientific research, taking into account the need to meet the physiological needs of students in general educational institutions in basic nutrients and energy; (c) development of the menus necessary for the organization of school meals in accordance with the recommended range of basic foodstuffs for use in school meals, as well as taking into account regional and age specifics of nutrition and the state of health of students; (d) development of sanitary and epidemiological requirements for the organization of meals for students in general education institutions, as well as recommendations on the creation of conditions to ensure the preservation and promotion of the health of students; (e) development of measures aimed at developing the system of production, processing, supply and trade of products for school meals; (f) development of measures to support local producers of agricultural products used in school meals, including the identification of types of such products and requirements for them; and (g) development and implementation of pilot projects to test various models of manufacturing and processing of products at the local level, the compilation and dissemination of the most valuable experience.