Abstract
INTRODUCTION: South Africa's National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) was created in 1994 to reduce poverty and unemployment and improve children's learning. It aims to aid disadvantaged children and strengthen poor communities, especially in rural areas. OBJECTIVES: The study examined challenges in implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) in the South African National School Nutrition Programme. METHODS: A qualitative case study design was used based on document analysis extracted through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. The documents were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Key TQM challenges affecting the implementation of the NSNP include Customer focus-lack of funding from the Department of Basic Education to accommodate increased enrolment; Employee involvement-role ambiguity due to lack of communication, and at times, the roles of the NSNP players are not clearly defined; Process-centric approaches-lack of school-level infrastructure to store and cook for students, Continuous improvement and training-lack of education curriculum on nutrition education and Relationship management-lack of coordination of the stakeholders on funding, political landscape, nutrition policies, community involvement, programme adaptability. CONCLUSION: Effective monitoring systems should be established to guarantee that students receive the necessary quality and quantity of food. These systems should also oversee food supply, storage, preparation, and hygiene. Additionally, the current targeting system, the quintile system, requires evaluation. This should involve assessing the school's location, available resources, and individual students' social context.