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The project supports pre-primary and primary school children in in 343 schools in Afar and 157 schools in Oromia continuing from the FY18 project. The project aims to strengthen government capacity to manage and sustain a nationally owned school meals project school meals project, with the goal of transitioning USDA-supported schools to full government ownership by the end of the project.

The evaluation cycle contains three exercises, this baseline study (2025), a midterm evaluation (2027) and a final evaluation (2029), which will cover the full project duration and all project activities and locations. The baseline study established the baseline situational analysis and values of outcome indicators, and feeding into USDA learning questions focus on community level systems, governance, and partnerships required to sustain the school meals project, and long-term impacts of school meals programmes on local agricultural production and food safety. The baseline study employed a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental approach combining desk review of secondary sources with primary data collection via three surveys (at school, student and parent level) and an Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) administered to students in grades 2 and 3 in project and non-project schools. The quantitative and qualitative analysis drew on data from a representative sample of 56 schools across Afar and Oromia, targeting pre-primary and primary school children through school feeding, WASH, health and nutrition, literacy, and smallholder farmer support.

Results of the baseline indicate:

• Relevance & Coherence: The McGovern Dole project is strongly aligned to national priorities and appropriately tailored to the complex socio-economic and cultural contexts of Afar and Oromia. The project also exhibits strong internal and external coherence, aligning with Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s broader education, nutrition, and resilience portfolio, and complementing government-led initiatives and donor-funded programs
• Effectiveness & Impact: At baseline, the project¡¯s design and planned interventions position it to address key challenges in education, health, and nutrition, though measurable outcomes will depend on overcoming systemic and contextual constraints, as well as reduced Â鶹ÊÓƵ staffing and procurement challenges. At baseline, project schools, which were supported by previous project phases, were better equipped (teacher training, infrastructure, and sanitation facilities), presented better educational indicators on average, with teacher reporting higher engagement levels than non-project schools. Overall, however, literacy levels are low at baseline with over 65 percent of project and non-project school students classified as non-readers. Interviews highlighted that school feeding receives greater attention than literacy interventions, highlighting a notable gap in literacy efforts. Community support for education is also closely tied to the immediate benefits of food provision, education access for students with disabilities remains limited, and while perceptions on the importance of education have begun to shift, progress remains limited. Project interventions aim to strengthen local ownership, but local agricultural contributions to school feeding are minimal in pastoralist areas, constrained by low productivity, environmental challenges, and weak food safety systems. 
• Sustainability: Ethiopia has made progress toward sustainable, government-led school feeding through increased financial commitment, emerging institutional structures, and regional innovation, but transition readiness varies by region. Despite recent budget growth, the absence of a national budget line, weak cross-sector coordination, and unclear governance frameworks continue to hinder sustainability. Community-level structures such as PTAs and school feeding committees are critical but require capacity building and consistent integration into formal systems. The project¡¯s phased graduation plan, alignment with SABER-identified capacity gaps, and participation in the Global School Meals Coalition position it to strengthen the enabling environment for long-term sustainability beyond external support. However, challenges in capacity and resource limitations make full handover unrealistic for the project.