The China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD) today celebrated a decade of its flagship “Smiling Children Program” in Ethiopia – a school-feeding initiative now providing daily meals to more than 100,000 primary-school students across Addis Ababa, Amhara, Oromia, Afar, Somali, Tigray and Gambella regions. The milestone event underscores the evolving people-to-people dimension of China-Ethiopia cooperation.
At a ceremony in Addis Ababa, CFRD Ethiopia Office Director Yin Qian remarked that since the programme’s launch in 2015, tens of thousands of children have been nourished not only with food but with hope, improved attendance and better learning prospects. Ethiopia’s Authority for Civil Society Organisations highlighted the partnership as a model of effective collaboration, noting improved class participation and community well-being in participating schools.
Chinese Embassy Charge d’Affaires Sun Mingxi emphasised that the feeding programme advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – particularly zero hunger, good health and quality education, in line with China’s broader agricultural and social commitment across Africa.
This anniversary of the school feeding initiative adds to the deepening bilateral relations between China and Ethiopia, formally established in 1970. Beyond humanitarian cooperation, China has invested heavily in Ethiopian industry, infrastructure and manufacturing, helping to position Ethiopia as an emerging production hub in Africa. For example, Chinese firms have collaborated with Ethiopian partners on industrial parks, power projects and rail-link developments.
The feeding scheme is particularly significant because it moves the relationship from purely infrastructure-led cooperation into social development and human capital formation – critical for Ethiopia’s long-term growth. A 2023 United Nations review of home-grown school-feeding programmes noted that feeding initiatives can yield both educational benefits for children and livelihood opportunities for small-holder farmers – suggesting the Ethiopia-China model may deliver both social and economic returns.
In schools supported by the programme, head teachers have reported lower absenteeism, greater appetite for learning and rising enrolment from disadvantaged families. “The meals brought back children who had dropped out; they now stay through the day and engage in class,” said a local principal at the event.
Looking ahead, CFRD announced plans to expand the initiative’s reach, strengthen partnerships with local NGOs, integrate nutrition education, and pilot food-supply linkages with community farms – thus turning schools into hubs of nutrition, learning and sustainable livelihood.
The multisectoral nature of the programme, from food security and education to community empowerment, reflects a maturing China–Ethiopia cooperation model. As Ethiopia pursues its ambitious industrialisation and human-capital goals, the “Smiling Children” initiative stands out as a pillar of inclusive growth, reinforcing that partnerships grounded in people can become the foundation of enduring development.
In the ten years since its inception, what began as a modest charitable effort has reached over 100,000 students and now signals a broader shift: China and Ethiopia working side by side to nourish not just bodies but futures.
