Beyond the Meal: School Feeding Programs, Educational Outcomes, and the Limits of Food-Based Interventions in Malawi (Dataset)

School Feeding Programs (SFPs) are widely implemented in food-insecure settings to support educational participation by improving academic performance, increasing enrolment, and reducing dropout. This study assesses the association between SFPs and primary education outcomes in Malawi during a period of program expansion. The study uses a mixed-methods approach that combines disaggregated administrative data from 919 schools across three districts (2019–2023) with qualitative insights from focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Using panel fixed effects with school and year fixed effects and zone-clustered standard errors, we find no statistically significant associations between SFP presence and dropout rates, gender parity in retention, or PSLCE examination pass rates. Point estimates suggest SFP schools have slightly higher dropout rates and modestly higher pass rates (approximately 2 percentage points), but these differences are not statistically distinguishable from zero after controlling for time-invariant school characteristics. Descriptive trends indicate that dropout was higher among SFP schools, and girls in SFP schools experienced higher dropout rates than boys, though these patterns are not statistically robust. Qualitative evidence suggests that enrollment surges in SFP schools without corresponding investments in infrastructure and teacher capacity may explain the absence of expected program benefits. These findings call for embedding SFPs within broader education and social protection frameworks that integrate investments in teaching quality, school infrastructure, and gender-responsive interventions to meaningfully improve educational outcomes.