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In his address on this occasion, Sadaoui affirmed that “Algeria's membership and commitment to support and strengthen the political mechanisms, set by the African Union (AU) Commission for advancing school feeding, with a view toward Africa's sustainable development, stem from the great interest that the Algerian State gives to school feeding and its willingness to share its experience in this field.”

He also stressed that the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, insists that school canteens be well managed, given their essential role in ensuring a healthy school environment.

In this respect, the minister noted that President Tebboune “ordered the establishment of the National Office for School Canteens, which is tasked with managing and maintaining school canteen equipment, ensuring proper hygiene and securing food supplies to provide students with healthy, hot and balanced meals.”

Sadaoui highlighted “the extreme importance that Algeria places on school feeding by maintaining canteens in all educational establishments, especially at the primary level.”

He added that school feeding “complements educational activities and provides stability for students,” aiming to ensure fairness and equal opportunities for all students, improve schooling conditions and reduce dropout rates, notably in isolated regions. It also plays a key role in boosting school performance and teaching students the principles of healthy and balanced nutrition.

The minister said that Algeria has “17,547 school canteens at the primary education level, serving free meals to 5,001,248 students,” adding that “1,130,850 middle school students and 643,512 high school students also benefit from free meals.”

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