Implementing school feeding in Kenya: Unlocking scalability

Implementing school feeding in Kenya: Unlocking scalability

This is a guest blog by Elisheba Kiru, Special Education Consultant, Nicola Okero, External Relations Manager at Food For Education, and Ruth Muendo, Senior Impact Manager at Food for Education.

Food for Education is a non-profit social enterprise feeding 300,000 young learners every school day across Kenya, and dedicated to mainstreaming school feeding programs across Africa.

As a result of a confluence of factors, Kenya’s cost of living has reached a 5-year high, having a disproportionately deleterious impact on low-income households. Quality of life, especially for children, is negatively impacted with access to shelter, security and education at risk, while access to quality nutrition is threatened by rising costs. Against this backdrop, the recently launched Dishi na County Nairobi county-wide school feeding programme, spearheaded by county governor, Johnson Sakaja, promises to deliver impact at scale. While Kenya has a long history of school feeding, Dishi na County brings in a unique, cost-efficient model that may unlock scalability.

Kenya’s documented history of school feeding begins in the late 70s with the well-known “Nyayo Milk” launched by President Daniel Arap Moi, where small packets of milk would be distributed to public schools to increase attendance and enrollment. To this day, those who attended school in the 80s fondly remember ‘Maziwa ya Nyayo.’ In the 1980s the World Food Programme (WFP) began implementing a programme, along with the Ministry of Education, to feed primary schools in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya and in urban informal settlements. However, as Kenya’s status as defined by the World Bank changed from Low Income to Middle Income, the international aid was reduced. The model of school feeding thus shifted from development partner led back to government led. A handover strategy was developed and in June 2018 all schools under the WFP school meals programme were handed over to the Government.

 

Government ownership has been characterised by a wider reach and policy development. However, several factors including inadequate resources have impeded implementation; despite the strides, Kenya is still far from achieving universal school feeding. Other models led by local communities and social enterprises provided alternatives to state provision. Unfortunately, the reliance on parents and teachers to work or provide in-kind support in community programs meant that shocks to the local economy quickly destabilise school feeding efforts. Meanwhile private sector enterprises, although efficient, lack the mandate to institutionalise standards.

Enter Dishi na County. It is uniquely a public-private partnership school feeding model, born from the realisation that the government resources can unlock sustainability and scalability built upon the innovation and efficiencies of the private sector. The program promises to feed 250,000+ young learners in Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres and public primary and ECD schools all across the Nairobi-city county in 2024, in partnership with Food for Education, a social enterprise currently feeding over 300,000 children across Kenya through centralised cooking and Near Field Communication technology that collects and communicates real-time data.

Kenya’s history of school feeding models highlights the various ways to increase access to quality nutrition to children. This new public-private partnership presents potential to lower costs and synergize efforts, thereby reaching more children. Collaborative partnerships combined with robust monitoring systems, which provide real-time data on program impact and needs, establish and sustain a transformative blueprint in the continent. 2024 will be the year to watch Kenya’s school feeding efforts.

Status of the School Canteen in Burundi

Figure 4 : HE the First Lady of Burundi shares the hot lunch with the schoolchildren of the Primary School of FINGKANME in Benin

Status of the School Canteen in Burundi

This is a guest blog written by Mr. Liboire BIGIRIMANA, National Director of School Canteens in Burundi and Spokesperson for the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research and Focal Point for Burundi, 2021 Global Survey of School Meal Programs

School canteens in Burundi have been in existence since the 1960s supported by the interventions of the World Food Programme (WFP). WFP supplied schools having boarding facilities with commodities such as powdered milk, meat, and canned fish. In 2008, the northern provinces of Burundi were affected by climate change, in the form of drought, leading to the impoverishment of households. This situation forced children to drop out of school and flee to neighboring countries of Burundi, mainly Tanzania and Rwanda. Others have moved to major cities in Burundi in order to get jobs and earn money.


To remedy this situation, the WFP and the Government of Burundi entered into an agreement to finance hot midday meals to motivate children to return to school for classes.


In 2013, the philosophy of the school canteen changed from being an emergency response to a development intervention. In this new approach, the Government of Burundi decided to develop an endogenous school canteen system known as Home Grown School Feeding, whereby a school canteen obtains local products from small producers grouped into cooperatives and agricultural production associations, thus forming a permanent market with the small producers.

I. Major Achievements of the Government in School Feeding

Several major achievements have been made by the Government of Burundi including:

Institutional aspects

  1. In 2016, a National Directorate of School Canteens was created and housed institutionally at the Minister’s Cabinet;
  2. On 14th November 2018, the Government of Burundi validated and endorsed the National School Feeding Program (NSFP), a tool for strategic orientation and dialogue with Development Partners (PTF);
  3. In 2020, Her Excellency the First Lady of Burundi Mrs. Angéline NDAYISHIMIYE agreed to be the Patron of the National School Feeding Program;
  4. In 2021, Burundi joined the Global School Meals Coalition.

Regarding financial commitments, since 2008 the Government of Burundi has made its counterpart funds available to WFP to finance the purchase of commodities for the school canteen. The amount allocated to school feeding by the government is about 2 million US dollars. Government contribution is expected to reach 6 million US dollars by the start of the 2023-2024 school year!

A study carried out locally shows that the school canteen contributes to the improvement of school indicators and the standard of living of producers.

II. Geographical Coverage

The National School Feeding Program (NSFP) intervenes in 847 elementary schools across 7 provinces of the country namely Bubanza, Bujumbura, Cibitoke, Gitega, Muyinga, Ngozi, and Kirundo provinces. About 650,000 school children out of an estimated target of 2.8 million children in elementary schools benefit from the NSFP. To achieve universal school canteen coverage, a substantial mobilization of funds needs to be done by development partners, the government, and the communities to fill current coverage gaps.

III. Best Practices in School Feeding in Burundi

The implementation of the NSFP faces several challenges, due to, most notably, limited financial resources. In addition, innovations are needed at the canteen level, especially related to the use of firewood and environmental degradation. The school feeding implementers in Burundi are developing best practices, including the following:

a) To limit the volume of firewood to be used, schools considered building improved stoves (i.e. utilizing concrete stoves that use less firewood and conserve heat thereby drastically reducing the quantity of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere), and the use of “briquettes”, fuel obtained following the industrial compaction of household residues, grasses, and rice crop residues

b) For good governance of the school canteen, a stock management tool has been introduced in schools with school canteens known as “School Connect”. This approach utilizes a digital management tool installed on tablets which allows for efficient and effective tracking and management of inventory. The tool provides an idea of the actual use of food in relation to the number of beneficiaries;

c) The consumption of products with very high nutritional value such as mushrooms and milk for a consistent protein intake;

d) The involvement of communities to support the school canteen: communities participate in the preparation and distribution of school meals, provide firewood, water, and vegetables to supplement the children’s food ration;

e) The introduction of decentralized purchases: the Government of Burundi and the WFP provide those in charge of the decentralized structures with the financial means to buy commodities for the canteen directly from food producers. This approach is helps canteens overcome stock-outs, increases the quantities of accessible commodities, and cuts down on the exorbitant cost of transporting food;

f) Introduction of hydroponics, a means of producing vegetables in greenhouses in areas with water deficits to supplement school meals with vegetables.

 

IV. National School Feeding Program Partners

The implementation of the NSFP is supported by the interventions of various development partners, including the World Bank (construction of improved stoves and their shelters, the supply of funds to buy commodities), the Netherlands, the Global Fund for Education through the French Development Agency (AFD), the Russian Federation, The Rockefeller Foundation (Financial and technical support), the United States of America through the McGovern-Dole Food For Education program. At the local level, the development of the fortified milk and corn flour value chain rose out of local partnership. Successful partner contributions are characterized by success in increased environmental protection, supplying of healthy, rich, and nutritious meals, ensuring the good governance of the school canteen, and more.

 

 V. Participation of Burundi in Global Child Nutrition Forums

Since 2014, Burundi has participated in most of the Global Child Nutrition Forums, organized by the Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF). Burundi has participated in Forums organized in Brazil, Cape Verde, South Africa, Canada, Tunisia, Armenia, and Benin. All these Forums have enabled Burundi to capitalize on the experiences of other countries in the management, financing, and sustainability of school feeding. For example, the Forum held in Brazil helped Burundi draft its school feeding policy. At the Forum held in Montreal, Canada, Burundi was able to build partnerships to finance the school canteens. At the Benin Forum in 2022, Burundi was able to better understand the part each government played in financing its school feeding. This is why, as of September 2023, Burundi will finance school feeding to the tune of 12.7 billion Burundian Francs, i.e. 6 million US dollars, an increase of 164% compared to the financing of previous years (4.8 billion Burundian Francs)!

It should be noted that there are regularly organized experience exchange visits in which HE the First Lady and Sponsor of the School Feeding Program in Burundi, Mrs. Angéline NDAYISHIMIYE, participated. These include the experience exchange visits made to Benin in 2021 and to Senegal in 2023.
 
Figure 1: Her Excellence Angéline Ndayishimiye, First Lady of Burundi and Sponsor of the National School Feeding Program
Figure 1: Her Excellence Angéline Ndayishimiye, First Lady of Burundi and Sponsor of the National School Feeding Program
Figure 2: Prototype of an Institutional Improved Hearth used in schools with school canteens in Burundi
Figure 2: Prototype of an Institutional Improved Hearth used in schools with school canteens in Burundi
Figure 3 : HE the First Lady of Burundi Angéline NDAYISHIMIYE sharing school meals at the ECOFO of Muyange I in Burundi for the celebration of the African School Feeding Day
Figure 3 : HE the First Lady of Burundi Angéline NDAYISHIMIYE sharing school meals at the ECOFO of Muyange I in Burundi for the celebration of the African School Feeding Day
Figure 4 : HE the First Lady of Burundi shares the hot lunch with the schoolchildren of the Primary School of FINGKANME in Benin
Figure 4 : HE the First Lady of Burundi shares the hot lunch with the schoolchildren of the Primary School of FINGKANME in Benin
Figure 5: Bags of dried mushrooms delivered to a school canteen in Burundi
Figure 5: Bags of dried mushrooms delivered to a school canteen in Burundi
Figure 7: HE the First Lady of Burundi Angéline NDAYISHIMIYE co-chairs a ministerial meeting with the Minister of State of Benin in charge of Government action Mr. Abdoulaye BIO TCHANE
Figure 7: HE the First Lady of Burundi Angéline NDAYISHIMIYE co-chairs a ministerial meeting with the Minister of State of Benin in charge of Government action Mr. Abdoulaye BIO TCHANE
Figure 6: Meeting between Her Excellency the First Lady, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture with private actors on school feeding
Figure 6: Meeting between Her Excellency the First Lady, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture with private actors on school feeding