Kitchen In a Box

In El Salvador, public schools may have inadequate infrastructure for preparing, storing, and consuming school meals due to a lack of financial resources and knowledge about hygiene, safe food preparation, and nutrition. The situation forces schools to use improvised wood-burning stoves, dining rooms, and provisional warehouses, limiting the establishment of a healthy and safe school feeding and learning environment.

Kitchen in a Box is a solution that offers durable and low-cost infrastructure. It builds smart kitchens and equips them with context-specific technology and storage. Additionally, it includes other components such as access to renewable energy through solar panels, capacity building in safe and hygienic food preparation and nutrition and the implementation of school gardens. With the technical support of WFP Engineering, Kitchen in a Box transforms recycled containers into kitchens and equips them with all the necessary materials for cooking and storing food to offer school meals. This new infrastructure model includes complementary components such as training to strengthen the school’s capacities in nutrition as well as safe and hygienic food preparation practices, access to safe and sustainable water through rainwater harvesting systems, and renewable solar energy.

WFP, alongside the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology from El Salvador, implemented the solution in three schools for the pilot phase, benefiting more than 3,100 students. In addition, 20 parents per school were trained in gender, nutrition, food safety, food quality and preparation, food and school gardens during 2023.

Kitchen in a Box can potentially impact over 700 schools at the national level by providing secure and sustainable infrastructure, enabling schools to deliver nutritious meals and an appropriate learning environment. The innovation team is now opening a second sprint to continue the innovation’s development.