Students at Diarrabougou School in Mali will receive a free school lunch each day through Catholic Relief Services' Jigiya program, also known as Food for Education.

Jigiya (which means "hope" in the local Bambara language) program is a school feeding and nutrition program that uses school lunches as an incentive to increase school enrollment and keep students in school.

Jigiya also provides training for teachers and principals, and strengthens the capacity of local School Management Committees (SMCs). The program uses volunteer cooks at each school who receive a monthly ration of food to take home in exchange for volunteering.

Jigiya is a five-year, $30 million McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition initiative sponsored and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and is run in partnership with CARITAS, AMPRODE Sahel, Guamina, and Education Development Center (EDC).

Photo by Michael Stulman/Catholic Relief Services