Teachers’ and Parents’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness and Sustainability of School Feeding Programmes in Tanzanian Primary Schools: A Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

Despite the widespread implementation of School Feeding Programmes (SFPs) in Tanzania, research offers limited insight into how teachers and parents interpret SFPs and sustain them in everyday school life. This study explored stakeholder perceptions of SFPs' contribution to children's learning, well-being and participation in the Mara Region, and how motivational and ecological factors shape engagement. Guided by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler's parental involvement model and Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, we used a qualitative, interpretive phenomenological design. Data comprised 40 individual teacher interviews and 20 parent focus group discussions (n=200) across 20 public primary schools; analysis treated each school and focus group as the comparative unit and triangulated accounts using thematic analysis. Teachers associated SFPs with improved attendance and punctuality, stronger concentration and participation, calmer classroom behaviour and reduced stigma, with steadier gains in urban-proximate schools and more seasonal patterns in agrarian and lakeshore communities. Parents framed SFPs as a lifeline in food-insecure settings and as a motivational and social-cohesion mechanism where households had more reliable food access, and reported perceived health and emotional benefits alongside strong norms of collective responsibility. Sustainability was described as precarious due to poverty, climate variability, rising costs, infrastructure gaps (fuel, water, storage/utensils) and weak institutional support, yet communities reported adaptive collective strategies. Sustainable SFPs require resilient financing, basic infrastructure investment, and policy recognition of local agency and trust as foundations for educational equity.