Planting seeds for better school food systems in West African cities

In many West African schools, canteens have long struggled to offer more than basic staples. Yet across Ouagadougou, Dakar, Thiaroye-sur-Mer, Thiès and Bobo-Dioulasso, Rikolto and partners are testing solutions to reshape school food environments. Through Rikolto's Good Food at School initiative, nutrition is becoming part of the school day, while pupils' health, local farming, and community engagement are increasingly linked.

At Nongmikma A Primary School in Ouagadougou, 13 year old Abdul Razack Sana discovered gardening only a few months ago. "Before, I didn't know how to harvest vegetables. I didn't know how to grow or water plants," he says. His experience reflects a wider shift: school gardens are now recognised globally, including by the FAO, as practical tools to help children understand where food comes from and what healthy eating looks like, especially in settings where canteen budgets are tight and meals rely heavily on cereals, oilseeds and legumes.

These meals fill stomachs but often lack vitamins needed by children aged 5 to 19, crucial years for growth and learning. As Nicolas Doyé in charge of Education Promotion of the Commune of Bobo Dioulasso notes, "The meals served in our school canteens aren't exactly nutritionally rich. Many essential nutrients are missing." According to UNICEF, globally, almost one in five school-aged adolescents eats vegetables less than once a day, while fast food continues to gain ground. In West Africa, the challenge is amplified by the steady presence of ultra processed, sugary snacks just outside school gates.

Beyond the bare minimum: connecting entry points for healthy school food

To respond to these intertwined issues, Rikolto is working with local governments and 13 [CF2.1][SC2.2]schools across Burkina Faso and Senegal. Inspired by the Whole School Food Approach, Rikolto aims to connect several elements that shape children's day to day food experience: clean kitchens, safer food storage, school gardens, nutrition awareness, community participation, and stronger governance. By 2025, thousands of pupils, teachers, cooks, parents, and vendors had taken part in activities shaped around these pillars.

Each school begins its journey with community led events-awareness-raising sessions on healthy eating, hygiene training, and collective work to set up school management committees and technical teams. This involves mobilising the entire school food community: pupils, parents, teachers, schools' leadership, cooks, and street food vendors.

Burkina Faso: building connections to food through school gardens

Momentum is building nationally. The government's "one school, one borehole, one garden, one field, one school farm" initiative signals growing interest in linking education with agricultural and social policy. In this context, Rikolto collaborates closely with authorities in Bobo Dioulasso and Ouagadougou.

At the twin Nongmikma A and B schools, the garden has already become a central part of school life.

"We're going to see the pretty vegetables-eggplants and young leaves-and then water them," says 12 year old Florence Yago. "They will look beautiful, and then we'll remove weeds."