The Home Grown School Meals (HGSM) programme in Zambia is one of the government’s key social protection programmes. The HGSM programme is currently being implemented in 39 districts covering all the 10 provinces, targeting 1,000,000 learners in approximately 2,800 schools. The HGSM programme provides a locally sourced meal to learners in pre- and primary schools. The goal of the HGSM programme is to deliver home grown school meals to learners whilst simultaneously reducing poverty and malnutrition through increasing crop diversification and access to markets. Schools offer a unique platform for realizing multiple benefits for children and their communities. This document provides strategic guidance to the implementation of the HGSM programme as referred to in various policies and documents including the 7th National Development Plan (2017-2021), the National Social Protection Policy (2014) and the National Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (2018-2021). Following this strategy, implementation guidelines will be developed in order to assist all stakeholders involved in the HGSM programme to manage the programme effectively.