This learning brief traces how lessons from Educating Children Together III (ECT III) shaped the design of its successor, Partnering for Sustainable Education Outcomes (PARES), both McGovern-Dole-funded school feeding programs implemented by World Vision in Mozambique. ECT III (2019–2025) built lasting community ownership — reading camps, health volunteers, and Farmer Associations continued after the project ended — but school feeding itself proved hard to sustain without formal procurement mechanisms or government engagement.
PARES (2024–2028) was designed to close that gap, requiring community contributions upfront, establishing Joint Procurement Committees linking farmers to schools, and anchoring government engagement through a signed MOU and multi-level task forces. Early results are encouraging: farmer engagement has exceeded targets, and the Government of Mozambique approved a National School Feeding Strategy in July 2026. The brief’s central lesson: sustaining school feeding requires combining community ownership with formal procurement channels and government leadership, not community commitment alone.
