By Juliet Makwama
Kenya’s non profit Food for Education has called on African and World Leaders to invest more in school feeding programs as hungry children cannot learn.
Speaking to mark World Food Day which fell on October 16, Food for Education Chief Executive Officer Wawira Njiru called for more investment in the school feeding revolution to ensure children in Africa stay in school to get the education they and the continent will need in future.
Ms Njiru said this ahead of a visit to Washington where she met officials from the World Bank.
Food for Education mainstreams school feeding programmes (SFPs) across Africa by designing a blueprint, operating it, and then supporting its replication.
And the most recent World Bank Africa Pulse Report argues that adressing education and skills gaps among other investments and policy priorities could help accelerate growth to end poverty in sub-saharan Africa.
Ms Njiru says if African leaders are serious about the continent’s future, there is urgent need to invest in the education of its children because they are the human capital for the same future.
In a recent interview with Africa Renewal and published on the website of the United Nations General Assembly UNGA for the 2024 meeting, Ms Njiru was asked about whether people in other countries are interested in learning from the Education for Food experience so they can replicate it in their communities, and she responded in the affirmative.
‘Yes, many people want to learn how to feed their communities in places like Nigeria, Zambia, and the DRC. We’ve learned a lot about both failing and succeeding—what works and what doesn’t. Now we’re looking at how to share that knowledge to help others build kitchens, source supplies, distribute food and more. Africans are known for giving back to their communities,” she said.
Zambia is already implementing a school feeding program which has already been rolled out across the country, but with some funding challenges encountered, some stakeholders such as the Zambia National Education Coalition ZANEC among other organizations believe a lot more needs to be done so that the program can serve its intended purpose of keeping children in school and concentrating.
Ms Njiru says there is need to keep children in school and the only way to succeed is to ensure that they are given hot and nutritious meals everyday.
“So on World Food Day, Iam calling on leaders in Africa and around the world to commit to invest in our children and ensure our children gain the skills necessary for their successes and the successes of Africa,” She said.
Food for Education recently announced that in the next stage of its growth it will aim to feed
3 million African children daily by 2030, by tripling the number of children served in Kenya and by expanding its network into two more African countries.
It is currently feeding over 450,000 children a day in Kenya alone, but that is barely 0.2% of all the children facing malnutrition in Africa.
Their three-pronged strategy will see them feed 1 million children daily in Kenya by partnering with county governments along with the national government to provide affordable, nutritious meals for children and their families.
This will come alongside work with two additional African countries to feed 2 million more children daily.
They seek to do this by leveraging their experience and expertise in linking local supply chains (small shareholder farmers and aggregators) and employing parents and communities in all operations.
They are currently in the process of securing partners in their target countries.
Food for Education will also share their knowledge base through a Center of Excellence which aims to teach others who want to start and scale school feeding in their communities.
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