Many children are frequently absent from school, drop out to look for food or income, or are simply too hungry to come to school. Even if they do come to school, hunger can diminish their ability to learn. These chronic problems are intensified during acute food shortages such as those caused by drought and other shocks. In Kenya, as in many other developing countries, school feeding increases the number of children enrolled, and encourages them to stay in school. Many times this is the only meal that these children have in a day.
Kenya is currently facing a multitude of challenges. Last month, the government declared food shortages as a national disaster, and announced that 10 million Kenyans were in need of food assistance. While a WFP-Government assessment on total needs is still being finalized, the government has indicated that as many as 850,000 additional children need school meals to keep them in class during the 2009 school year. As a result of the drought, many families resort to extreme measures, including pulling their children out of school to work, just so families can eat one meal a day. In schools where school feeding is offered, this is less likely to happen.
The high food prices that continue to plague Kenya have a direct impact on those living in urban slums, who spend 60-80 percent of their incomes on food. From December 2007 to December 2008, the price of maize (the main staple) increased by 100 percent, cooking fuel by 50 percent, and water by 114 percent in the urban markets.
School meals help get children in the Nairobi and Mombasa slums off of the dangerous streets and into classrooms, ensuring them least one hot, nutritious meal each day.
Article comments
1 - Education Insight
Thank God the governement of Kenya has extended the School Feeding program in these times of drought.