The reach of school meals in low-income countries remains four percent below pre-pandemic levels.
It has fallen by approximately four per cent in low-income countries, with the biggest declines observed in Africa.
High-income, upper middle-income and lower middle-income countries showed a consistent, modest increase of 4 per cent, 4 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.
Low-income countries have increased their domestic funding for school meals up from 30 per cent in 2020 to 45 per cent in 2022.
It has the potential to create 1,000-2,000 jobs for every 100,000 children receiving school meals.
30 million increase happens in the number of children receiving school meals between 2020 and 2022.
Of this, the five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa accounted for 19 million of the increase in the number of children fed.
The study analysis is based on a sample of 176 countries, up from 163 countries in 2020.