King Letsie III lauds Kenya’s school meals programme promise

RETHABILE MOHONO

MASERU – Kenyan NGO Food4Education hosted a high-profile delegation this week led by African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr Akinwumi Adesina and his Majesty King Letsie III.

The delegation visited Ruiru Primary School near Nairobi to observe the organization’s successful school feeding programme and explore ways to replicate it across Africa.

Speaking in Nairobi after a benchmarking tour in Ruiru, Kiambu County, King Letsie III, accompanied by Dr Adesina and officials from Kenya’s Ministry of Education, praised Kenya’s progress in implementing school feeding initiatives.

He emphasized the need for African leaders to take the lead in advocating for school meals and working towards eradicating hunger among school-age children.

The King also acknowledged the role of young philanthropists in advancing sustainable nutrition programs, citing Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, as a key example. Njiru was recognized as the United Nations Person of the Year in October 2021 for her efforts in pioneering scalable school meal programmes.

AfDB president, Dr Adesina, highlighted the urgent need to tackle malnutrition across Africa, stressing that poor nutrition contributes to stunted growth and hinders cognitive development.

“This is a leadership issue,” he stated, calling on governments to increase investments in school feeding programmes as part of a broader strategy to improve education and secure a sustainable future for the continent.

We must mainstream and advocate for proper nutrition because an empty stomach interferes with a child’s ability to grasp educational content.”

Statistics from Save the Children indicate that 26 percent of Kenyan children suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition. Recognizing the severity of the issue, Kenya has taken bold steps to address child hunger through large-scale feeding initiatives.

At the launch of the initiative on Tuesday Kenyan president, William Ruto, underscored the importance of eliminating hunger in schools, stating that no child should suffer the indignity of learning on an empty stomach.

“We must eliminate the shame of hunger in our country,” Ruto declared, emphasizing the government’s commitment to expanding the reach of school meal programs.

Nairobi is set to witness the largest school feeding programme in Africa, with a groundbreaking initiative set to roll out in August. The programme, beginning on August 28 with the start of the autumn term, will see the establishment of ten new kitchens to provide 400 000 daily lunches for children across 225 primary schools and Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers in the capital.

In addition to addressing child hunger, the initiative is expected to create employment opportunities for 3 500 people and establish a market for local farmers. This large-scale program is the result of a collaborative effort between Nairobi County and Food4Education, which currently supplies meals to 150 000 primary schoolchildren in the city.

To scale up these efforts, the Kenyan government has allocated $36 million to expand the national feeding programme’s reach from 1.6 million to 4 million children.

President Ruto also announced an incentive for county governments to contribute to the program, promising to match every shilling allocated by local governments with an equal amount from the national budget.

Beyond improving nutrition, the school feeding program aims to boost school enrollment and attendance rates. Hunger has been identified as a major factor affecting children’s ability to attend and concentrate in class. Nairobi County’s Executive for Health and Education, Suzanne Silantoi, emphasized that the institutionalization of the school feeding program is crucial, given the direct link between nutrition and learning outcomes.

“Proper nutrition is fundamental to a child’s education,” Silantoi stated.

“By institutionalizing this programme, we ensure that all children have a fair chance at learning and excelling in school.”

Kenya’s initiative is being closely watched by other African nations as a model for large-scale school feeding programme’s.

The visit by King Letsie III and AfDB’s President Adesina underscores the importance of continental collaboration in tackling child hunger and improving education systems.