On World Food Day, Wawira Njiru, CEO of the Kenyan non-profit Food for Education, called on African and global leaders to invest in school feeding programmes to nourish the continent’s future.
Ahead of her visit to Washington, where she will meet with officials from the World Bank, Njiru highlighted data from the World Bank’s recent Africa Pulse report, calling for urgent investment in a school feeding revolution to ensure that children across Africa remain in school and receive the education necessary for their own futures and that of the continent.
“We know that hungry children can’t learn, and as an organisation, we are changing that one meal at a time. Through our work, we are investing in the future of children, Kenya, and all of Africa. But we cannot do it alone,” She stated prior to her visit
According to Wawira, Food for Education has a unique and replicable model that currently feeds over 450,000 children daily in Kenya, which is only 0.2% of all the children facing malnutrition in Africa.
“If we are serious about investing in our continent, we must urgently invest in the education of our children, as they represent the human capital for all our futures,” she said
Wawira argues that the best way to invest in Africa is by keeping them children in school to ensure they learn, stating that; “By far the most effective way to do this is by providing them with a daily hot, nutritious meal at school through programmes like ours,”
“Therefore, on this World Food Day, I am calling on leaders in Africa and around the world to commit to investing in our children by supporting programmes like Food for Education. By doing so, we can ensure our children acquire the skills necessary for their success and that of Africa.”
The latest Africa Pulse report from the World Bank argues that “addressing education and skills gaps, among other investment and policy priorities, could help accelerate growth to end poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
The report also indicated that currently:
● 90% of ten-year-olds in Sub-Saharan Africa are unable to read simple text.
● 7 in 10 children in Sub-Saharan Africa are not benefiting from pre-primary education.
● Fewer than 1.5% of 15 to 24-year-olds are enrolled in formal vocational education programmes, compared to roughly 10% in high-income countries.
● Climate change is creating an agricultural crisis, which is “fueling malnutrition, with more than 45 million children in Eastern and Southern Africa at risk of health issues, displacement, and educational setbacks.”
Food for Education recently announced that in the next phase of its growth, it aims to feed 3 million African children daily by 2030, by tripling the number of children served in Kenya and expanding its network into two additional African countries.
Their three-pronged strategy will involve feeding 1 million children daily in Kenya by partnering with county governments, alongside the national government, to provide affordable, nutritious meals for children and their families.
This will be complemented by efforts in two other African countries to provide meals for an additional 2 million children daily. They plan to achieve this by leveraging their experience and expertise in linking local supply chains (smallholder 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 its knowledge base through a Centre of Excellence, aimed at teaching others who wish to start and scale school feeding initiatives in their communities.
Food for Education mainstreams school feeding programmes (SFPs) across Africa by designing a blueprint, operating it, and then supporting its replication. We work every day to create a world where no child has to learn on an empty stomach, because we know that SFPs can solve classroom hunger and eliminate barriers to learning.
