Execution of School Feeding Programs in Latin America during the Covid-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of the Human Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition (HRAFN): A Scoping Review.

Publication date: Jul 01, 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted several sectors, including school feeding policies in Latin America, and harmed, above all, school-age children and adolescents, since schools closed and classes were interrupted. The aim of this review was to analyze the execution of school feeding programs (SFPs) in Latin America in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of the Human Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition (HRAFN). We undertook a scoping review of articles and official documents in the databases Embase, FSTA, LILACS, PubMed, SciELO, Scopus, and Web of Science, and in official websites and websites of government agencies of Latin American countries. A descriptive synthesis of the data was performed from the perspective of the HRAFN, analyzing whether the availability, accessibility, adequacy, and stability dimensions were guaranteed. A total of 191 texts were located. From these, 107 were selected, including 20 articles and 87 documents. It was found that 3 of the 20 Latin American countries did not maintain SFPs during the pandemic (2020-2022): Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua. Most countries adapted the provision of school feeding to include food baskets, cash transfers, ready meals, or meals prepared at the educational institutions. Regarding accessibility, 45% of the countries served the same beneficiaries who were previously part of the program, while 30% reduced accessibility to only a portion of the public. As for adequacy, 55% of the countries did not specify whether fresh food was provided. Concerning the stability dimension, no texts presented information about the guarantee of the measures carried out regularly during the pandemic. The dimensions of the HRAFN were not fully contemplated during the emergency period, and, therefore, there were several violations of the rights of students who were beneficiaries of SFPs.

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