Without school meals, thousands of pupils could drop out 

As classrooms across Cameroon begin to fill again, the sound of children reciting lessons and scraping wooden benches masks a quieter uncertainty. 

For families already stretched by conflict, displacement, climate shocks, and rising food prices, school meals often determine whether children attend class consistently or begin to slip away. When food is available, children come; when it is not, absence follows quietly. 

 At Government Primary School Meme 2A in the Far North Region, this reality plays out each day. 

 Ten-year-old Timokoche Massa is in Class Six. He walks 15 kilometres to school and back every day. After losing a close family member to violence, school has become both a refuge and a routine. 

“When I eat at school, I can stay in class and understand my lessons,” Timokoche says. “If there is no food, it is hard to concentrate.” 

His experience is shared by thousands of children across Cameroon. 

Arithmetic is his favourite subject. One day, he hopes to become a police officer. “I want to protect my family,” he says. 

Cameroon is facing overlapping humanitarian crises that continue to erode families’ ability to keep children in school. An estimated 1.5 million children require humanitarian education support, while nationally fewer than six in ten pupils transition from primary to secondary school, and one in four does not complete primary education. 

In the Far North, insecurity, inter-communal violence, and recurrent floods have damaged or led to the closure of hundreds of schools. According to UNICEF, 564,000 school-age children need education assistance in the region. In the Northwest and Southwest, years of conflict have left more than 865,000 children without regular access to schooling. 

 School feeding has become one of the most effective tools for protecting access to education in this context. 

Since January 2022, the World Food Programme (WFP) has supported the Government of Cameroon in implementing school feeding activities in five regions, complementing national efforts to keep children learning while strengthening local food systems. This partnership was reinforced with the government’s launch of the National School Feeding Strategy and Sustainable Financing Strategy in October 2025. 

Each school meal provides approximately 630 kilocalories, covering about one-third of a child’s daily nutritional needs. For many pupils, it is the only reliable meal of the day. 

“When meals stop, attendance drops almost immediately,” says Gafoube Zacharie, Head Teacher at Meme 2A. “Children arrive late, leave early, or stop coming altogether.” 

In 2025, WFP continues to support school feeding programmes in some of the country's most vulnerable regions. In the Far North, emergency school meals were provided to 29260 pupils across 37 schools, including 12,907 girls. Simultaneously, home-grown school feeding expanded to 200 schools nationwide, benefiting nearly 100,000 children, 45 percent of whom are girls. Teachers report noticeable improvements in the classroom, with stronger concentration and attendance, and retention rates rising to over 95 percent. Parents also indicate that these meals alleviate pressure on their already fragile household food supplies. 

By sourcing food locally, school feeding has also supported smallholder farmers and cooperatives, linking classrooms to local food systems and generating income in rural communities. 

Despite these advances, progress remains fragile. 

From January 2026, more than 52,000 children risk losing access to daily school meals due to funding shortfalls. WFP requires US$ 9.9 million to sustain school feeding activities in 2026, with 81 percent of needs currently unfunded. 

“If we fail to keep children fed at school, we risk losing them from the classroom altogether,” says Gianluca Ferrera, WFP Representative and Country Director in Cameroon. “School meals are not just about nutrition; they are about learning, protection, and hope.” 

WFP’s school feeding activities in Cameroon are implemented in partnership with the Government of Cameroon, with support from the World Bank, Japan, and Finland. 

For Timokoche, the stakes are simple. 

“When there is food, I don’t miss school,” he says. “I want to learn.” 

As the school year unfolds, whether that remains possible for thousands of children across Cameroon may depend on a single, fragile factor: whether school meals continue.