Save The Children estimates that 26% of Kenyan children have stunted growth as a result of hunger. President William Ruto emphasised the need to “eliminate the shame of hunger in our country” at the initiative’s Tuesday inauguration.
This August, the largest school feeding program in Africa will launch in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Its goal is to end the “shame of hunger” by giving thousands of primary school students access to daily lunches.
Ten additional restaurants will start contributing 400 000 daily lunches to children in 225 primary schools and Early Childhood Development centres in Nairobi as of August 28, the opening day of the autumn semester.
In addition to providing food for the children, the program will give 3,500 people jobs and give dozens of farmers a market. Nairobi County and Food4educatuin, which already provides meals to 150,000 primary school students in the city, are working together on this project.
According to Ruto, the government has earmarked $36 million to expand the current national feeding program’s coverage from 1.6 million to 4 million youngsters. However, he promised to enhance the allotment and match further county contributions shilling for shilling.
Child hunger has an impact on enrollment and attendance in school, in addition to harming their capacity to learn. According to Suzanne Silantoi, the county executive for Nairobi, the relationship between nutrition and learning has led to the county officially instituting the school feeding program.
