Facelift for school feeding programme
About 500 000 children across the country currently depend on the Namibian School Nutrition Programme.The daily portion of 125 g of porridge is often the only meal for 424 248 learners. It forms part of the programme that is followed nationwide at 80% (or 1 500) of state schools, costing the education ministry N$80 million every year to keep going.
The porridge has soy in it which contains proteins, while salt and sugar are also part of the dry ingredients. However, the ministry does not currently have a soy supplier and they are waiting for the Central Procurement Board to find an international supplier.
A new nutrition programme is currently being rolled out, which benefits 14 000 pupils from 29 schools in seven regions. This programme is designed to provide a more balanced diet for children, with, among other things, several farms providing the necessary supplies to the ministry.
The new scheme, Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF), provides healthy food to learners while smaller providers also benefit.
The executive director of the Ministry of Education, Sanet Steenkamp, said in a recent presentation that the new nutrition programme offers opportunities for marginalized communities, while also tackling poverty in the country.
The deputy executive director of the same ministry, Edda Bohn, said the new scheme was launched last year. Local suppliers have also already been identified for the supply of maize meal, salt and sugar.
Bohn said certain regions did not meet the requirements for supply. “Some areas work well, such as Mariental and Stampriet, where there is already local production. The programme has yet to be rolled out in the drought-stricken Kunene,” she added.
She stressed in an effort to expand the programme, “a community market must be created for the community”.
Although all the regions are not yet involved, efforts are being made to take them to these regions in the 2022-23 financial year.
The current nutrition program was launched in 1992 and was initially sponsored by the World Food Programme. The ministry took over in 1996. However, in 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic and schools that were closed brought this programme to a standstill. This resulted in about 330 000 pupils going without a meal every day.
According to the ministry, the programme is a “safety net” for households experiencing hunger. It has also been implemented, among other things, to increase learner numbers and support daily attendance, while improving their concentration and health.
The programme focuses on grade 1 to 7 pupils, while schools that qualify for this are located in semi-arid regions.