Integrating Smallholder Agriculture into School Feeding Programs: Addressing the Agri-Health Disconnect

This policy brief explores how school feeding programs can do more than improve child nutrition—they can also strengthen local agriculture and rural livelihoods. Drawing on case studies from Malaysia and Indonesia, it examines the administrative, financial, and logistical barriers that limit smallholder farmers’ participation in institutional food procurement. It proposes practical policy options—including community-based aggregation, faster farmer payments, flexible local menus, stronger nutrition monitoring, and improved cold chains—to better connect school food systems, smallholder agriculture, and local economic resilience.