What gains, whose gains; the unmined potential of Kenya’s school feeding program [Part 1]

Photo credit: Kenya Kids Can.https://kenyakidscan.org/feeding-program/ creator: Picasa

School feeding is necessary for Kenya. The program is a significant tool in education. It allows children to receive meals during with profound benefits, and the evidence is recorded from all over the world. The children’s attendance, concentration, and health outcomes are boosted. In the long term, school feeding produces healthy human capital with higher productivity in the economy.

Kenya stands to gain immensely from fortified school feeding. First in the education sector. According to the Kenya Bureau of Statistics, by 2021 about 14 million children attended primary and secondary school. With increased nourishment, a huge population of children can experience the above-foreseen gains with multiple effects for the nation.

There is also a need to focus beyond education and see the health sector gains. Children’s health in schools needs to be supported to ensure that some are not left behind. Kenyan children are among those threatened by preventable diseases in their first 5 years of life in Africa. Statistics show over 10,000 children die from malaria, while almost double this population succumb to diarrhea annually. In Kenya, 26% of children are stunted, while 11% are underweight(UNICEF). These can have adverse effects on their health outcomes.

Children with such poor health statuses are vulnerable without the safety net of school feeding and hostile socio-economic environments. Therefore, school years are strong precursors to the health outcomes of children, the Kenyan population, and economic growth.

These gains are pushed by different players in the school feeding arena. The WFP has led great efforts in the school feeding arena in Kenya, consequently transitioning ownership to the government since 2009. Through different regimes, children in most food-insecure areas have been supported.

Non-governmental organizations such as Food 4 Education and Cup of Uji are also making notable contributions. Their role and commitment help many children who would otherwise be hungry or absent from school.

In addition, these programs are supported by several policy and legal frameworks. These include the National School Health Policy and National School Health, Nutrition, and Meals Program Strategy.

The gains have been slow since the 1980s, marked by a far from visible national commitment to scaling up public school feeding. One of, the most notable recent moves to bring up a national conversation was in 2022. This was the endorsement of a proposal for the countrywide implementation of the program in public primary schools by now-president William Ruto.

However, following the push by Governor Sakaja for school feeding, Nairobi county is on course to set the pace by providing lunches countywide with a recent budget allocation of 400 million. Other counties such as Nakuru, Machakos, and Homabay have also signaled a school feeding program agenda.

Also, under the national government, budget allocation for this program is still dismal. Out of 544 billion for education, the program received 1.96 billion (less than 1%) in 2022/2023. Since the Maziwa ya Nyayo era, the heavy cost associated with school feeding has been a raised concern for not scaling up.

In conclusion, school feeding has many benefits for the country with gains in education, health, and productivity. The gains for the program at the national and county levels, though slow have seen different players push for its continuation. However, the lack of project scale-up, projected costs, and budget allocation are huge hindrances to the program. There is a need to support efforts by players and a continued national conversation about the program to ensure that more children are impacted.