King Letsie III of Lesotho has commended the Kenyan government under President William Ruto for its commitment to the school meals program.
Speaking in Nairobi after a benchmarking tour in Ruiru, Kiambu County, the King and his entourage accompanied by the President of the African Development Bank Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and the Ministry of Education officials praised Kenya’s achievements in school feeding initiatives.
“African governments can integrate school feeding in their national fabric to nurture minds for a better future of our continent” said the King adding that African leaders should take the lead in championing school feeding and end school age hunger.
The King also acknowledged young philanthropists such as Wawira Njiru, founder of Food for Education, who was named the United Nations Person of the Year in October 2021 for pioneering scalable nutrition programs.
AfDB President Dr Adesina decried unhealthy stunted growth of most African children occasioned by malnutrition saying, it was a leadership issue and governments should invest in education hence a sustainable future for the African continent and beyond.
He called for mainstreaming and advocacy for all children to eat well since an empty stomach can interfere with the cognitive ability of the brain to grasp educational content among other concepts.
Children and adolescents spend most of their time, about 75%, in a school environment throughout the year. That is where they consume more than half of their daily meals, grow up, and mature to become adults.
During the Second Global Ministerial Meeting held in Nairobi in October 2024, President Ruto committed to working with President Macron of France and President Lula of Brazil among others, to champion school meals on the global stage, particularly in the context of the G20-led Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty under Brazil’s leadership.
The National School Meals Coalition, launched in October, is now operational with technical working groups aligned to the Global School Meals Initiative.
The government introduced the School Meals Programme to provide complementary mid-day meals to school children with the aim to increase school enrolment, and improve retention and performance.
As a result, the numbers for school enrolment, retention, completion, learning outcomes, nutrition and general wellbeing has grown from 240,000 to 2.6 million leaners over the years.
The program covers schools in all 11 arid counties, selected schools in 15 semi-arid counties, urban informal settlements, special needs institutions, and refugee camps.
The government aims to expand coverage from 2.6 million to 10 million children by 2030.
