Contribution of the regulatory framework of public procurement to the sustainability of school catering: evidence from the case of the Fez-Meknes region

Abstract

Green public procurement has proven to be a means to achieve sustainable development goals. This is the case in Morocco, which since 2013 has required public procurement decrees to integrate sustainability principles into their contracts. This paper focuses on public procurement dedicated to school catering in the Fez-Meknes Region to assess how they contribute to its sustainability. To do this, we examined the 18 specifications of the contracts concluded by the 9 provincial education directorates in the region, drawing inspiration from the dimensions of sustainability and health developed by Ramos and Gonzalez (2023). For a triangulation of data sources, semi-structured interviews were conducted with two key actors of public-school catering, namely the managers of material and financial services of public schools with a boarding school or canteen and contract-holding companies through their representatives. In total, 26 interviews were carried out, 15 with managers and 11 with company representatives. A thematic analysis of the content was carried out using the statistical software Nvivo version 12. The results obtained show that economic performance takes precedence over social and environmental performance which are somewhat insufficient. Instruments such as short circuits, the circular economy, renewable energies are not implemented at the local level. Furthermore, the fight against food waste is not a priority, the working conditions are not improving, and the social inclusion of small farmers is far from being achieved. This calls on local stakeholders to open up to successful international experiences so that the regulatory framework for public procurement serves the sustainability of school catering.

Keywords: Sustainability; Green public procurement; Fez-Meknes region; Public school catering.

JEL Classification :  Q01 ; R11

Paper type: Empirical research.