School children may soon benefit from feeding programs bringing back the memories of the "Maziwa ya Nyayo" program enjoyed by their parents in the 1990s.
Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja is championing the reintroduction of feeding programs in schools echoing Education Cabinet secretary George Magohas' announcement earlier this year.
Addressing the Senate on Thursday, February 11, Sakaja said his visit to some of the reopened schools in Nairobi promptly opened his eyes to the situation in public institutions.
"I've visited around eight schools in Nairobi. When you look at these children, you'll want to shed a tear. They are trying to keep brave faces but they are hungry," he said.
He pointed out the effect of the pandemic on parents who are struggling to meet basic needs including providing meals.
"We used to have a school feeding program. When I was growing up in Nairobi, we used to have Maziwa ya Nyayo which was milk we got in school. As you remember the first anniversary of the late President Moi, he left a mark," he added in nostalgia.
He suggested that the Ksh4 billion given to the MCAs for the Building Bridges Initiative should instead be channeled to school feeding programs.
"We must reintroduce it. We must emphasize that aspect of school feeding by the government buying produce from farmers. I don't think there is a better way to allocate ksh5 billion or Ksh10 billion. If a child has nothing in their stomach, nothing will go in their brains," said Sakaja.
He further explained that privately donating food to schools, which has been in partnership with private entities, is unsustainable.
Research shows that children are the demographic group highly exposed to hunger. The nature of their developing bodies is more vulnerable to problems resulting from hunger. On average, 29 percent of children in rural areas and 20 percent of those living in urban areas have stunted growth resulting from vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
A majority of school-going children in Nairobi only rely on meals provided at school. Hunger affects concentration, participation, school performance, and sleep patterns in children. Thus having children at school who are hungry beats the whole purpose of teaching them.
Watch the video of Sakaja speaking before the Senate.
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