By Sharon Atieno
African countries have been urged to invest in school feeding programmes to secure the continent’s future, leaders said during a field visit to a school feeding project by Food4Education in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.
“We must make sure that we are looking at investing in nutrition, not as an expenditure item, or as a social item, but as an investment. Because economies that will thrive in the future must thrive from kids that can go to school, that can learn, that can stay in school, that can perform, that can achieve,” said Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President, Africa Development Bank Group.
Dr. Adesina noted that investing in nutrition is investing in grey matter infrastructure- brain power- which will drive the African economy well into the future. Therefore, Africa should look into its domestic models to fund such programmes.
“We have to get the treasury departments and ministries of finance to understand that investing money in nutrition, is not an expenditure item. It’s an investment that will make the economy grow in the future. Therefore, treasury departments and ministries of finance should be allocating more resources to children’s education,” he said, stressing the importance of political will and accountability.
Highlighting the role of the corporate sector in creating employment, Dr. Adesina said the sector should play its role in the school feeding programme. “If all the people you find in labor markets are the ones that have shriveled brains, how are you going to innovate? How are you going to use them? He posed.
“Transforming education systems requires more than trust and teachers. It requires well-fed, healthy children. A child who goes to school on an empty stomach is not just hungry for food, but also for opportunity,” said King Letsie III, Lesotho’s king.
“When we provide nutritious locally sourced school meals, we improve learning outcomes and school attendance, strengthen local agricultural value chain, and empower women and youth through job creation.”
He called for smart and sustainable financing to scale up the school feeding programmes across the continent, underlining that the continent has leadership, partnerships, and models that work. Now is the time for bold action and greater investment.
Food4Education is a local social enterprise that uses a unique model to feed about 500,000 children across 10 counties in Kenya. School-going children are able to access nutritious meals for USD 0.30 or less. Through the tap2eat system, tech-enabled wristbands are linked to digital wallets that enable easy contribution allowing parents to load funds via mobile money so the student can enjoy lunch every day. This system also ensures there is real time, accurate data to track quality and quantity.
Wawira Njiru, Founder and CEO Food4Education, stressed the importance of tackling child malnutrition particularly, through innovation. “School feeding programs offer a proven solution, when implemented effectively and impactfully, they can change the game,” she reiterated.
