(Ecofin Agency) - Norway approves a financial aid of $3.4 million to supply school canteens in Mali during the ongoing school year.

According to the African Press Organization which reveals the news, the money will support about 55,000 students through the school feeding program, managed by the World Food Program in the central city of Mopti.

“Norway is supporting school meal programs in several countries, and I am pleased that we can now do so in Mali. Providing school meals not only helps to ensure that more children are sent to school, it also improves their health and promotes greater equality between boys and girls. School meal programs also increase turnover in the local food market, which in turn promotes development at the local level,” says Dag-Inge Ulstein, Norway's Minister for International Development.   

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), estimates that 3.9 million people are in need of food aid in Mali, with population displacements caused by the insecurity.

Espoir Olodo