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Unilever partners with WFP to tackle hunger in Kenya

Unilever said in a statement that its brands Royco is donating 600,000 school meals in Kenya and rallying people to pledge their support for building a world with zero hunger.

“Royco’s partnership with the WFP is an initiative that will help us give children access to nutritious food and the potential for a healthier life,” said Marc Engel, Unilever CEO for East Africa & Emerging Markets.

The meals will be delivered through WFP’s “Home Grown School Meals Programme” aimed at improving the lives of families, communities and farmers.

Read more: Unilever partners with WFP to tackle hunger in Kenya

 

U.S. Govt Donates 60 Motorcycles to Support Kenya's National School Meals Programme

On July 26 World Food Programme (WFP) donated over 60 motorcycles and an automobile to Kenya's Ministry of Education to enhance the Kenyan government's capacity to implement and monitor the country's expanding Home-Grown School Meals (HGSM) programme in Kenya.

The motorcycles and vehicle, which are valued at USD 100,000 (approximately Ksh 8.6 million), are part of a donation made by the United States Government to WFP in efforts to strengthen the HGSM programme.

Read more: U.S. Govt Donates 60 Motorcycles to Support Kenya's National School Meals Programme

   

Ministries of education and health carry out national training for Kenya’s school meals programme

 

In order to strengthen the implementation of Kenya’s Home Grown School Meals (HGSM), the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health with support from Partnership for Child Development (PCD), World Food Programme and Dutch Development Organisation, SNV recently carried out a national training exercise with school feeding implementers, across 70 counties and sub-counties in Kenya.

Kenya's HGSM programme sees local food purchased from smallholder farmers and delivered to schools which is then used in the production of school meals. Not only does this provide smallholders with a reliable market to which they can sell their product but it ensures school children of a free school meal, so they are more likely to go and stay in school once there, and they are more likely to concentrate whilst there. In addition to this, the HGSM also encourages local livelihoods of others involved along the school feeding supply chain such as food transporters and caterers.

Read more: Ministries of education and health carry out national training for Kenya’s school meals programme

   

A Sustainable Source of Income for Women Living with HIV/AIDS and Orphans in Nanyuki - Poultry Keeping Project

Africa Rural Connect is an online platform on which amongst other topics generates ideas for Home Grown School Feeding.

It unites a wide network of African Diaspora, current and returned Peace Corps volunteers, rural African farmers, academics, international development practitioners, and professionals from 139 countries who together contribute to the online platform to create business plans and ideas for Agriculture in Africa.

The proposal below is taken from the platform from a submission titled, "A Sustainable Source of Income for Women Living with HIV/AIDS and Orphans in Nanyuki- Poultry Keeping Project", looking at the contribution to poverty reduction through improved health and food production, and security among households of women living with HIV/AIDS and orphans in the Nanyuki Township.

Read more: A Sustainable Source of Income for Women Living with HIV/AIDS and Orphans in Nanyuki - Poultry Keeping Project

   

HGSF in Kenya

A Kenyan context

The Republic of Kenya is one of the leading economies in East Africa. Kenya’s population lives predominantly in rural zones, however, only 15% of Kenya’s total land area has sufficient fertility and rainfall which can be farmed. Levels of malnutrition remain unacceptably high in Kenya with around 30% of child deaths attributed to under-nutrition. The major factors contributing to high malnutrition in Kenya include; increasing food insecurity as a result of recurrent droughts, rising food prices and poor dietary diversity. According to the 2009 consensus approximately 77.2% of Kenya’s children enrolled in primary schools: while since 2003 primary education in Kenya is free, other education related costs like school uniforms remain a barrier and not all children are in school.

Find out more about Kenya school health and nutrition

 


The HGSF Concept

HGSF programmes provide nutritious meals to school children produced by local small holder   farmers. HGSF programs benefit children as provision of (daily) nutritious meals positively impact school enrolment and performances. As HGSF programmes run for a fixed number of days a year and have a pre-determined food basket, they can also provide the opportunity to benefit farmers by generating a structured and predictable demand for their products.

HGSF in Kenya

The Government of Kenya developed and implemented two different HGSF models in support of the Millennium Development Goals:

  1. Njaa Marufuku Kenya Programme (NMK)
    • Initiated in 2005 this is only school feeding programmes in Africa that is led by the Ministry of Agriculture.
    • Njaa Marufuku targets areas that have high and medium potential to grow food.
    • The programme reaches over 44,000 children in 66 schools.
    • School feeding committees, consisting of parents and teachers, are responsible for procurement and preparation of meals. The committees are free to prepare any meal from locally available food items.
    • The NMK programme provides training and fertilizers to local farmers to enable them to produce excess which they sell to the school.
    • Food procurement support by the Government is for a period of three years after which the community is expected to take over.
  
  1. The Home Grown School Meals programme (HGSM)
    • Initiated in 2009 and led by the Ministry of Education.
    • The programme feeds nearly 600,000 school children in 1800 schools located in 66 semi-arid districts (2011).
    • Under the HGSM programme children receive a midday meal consisting of cereals, pulses, oil and salt.
    • Food procurement is done each term through a competitive process with local farmers.
    • Community members provide storage and kitchen facilities.
    • The HGSM programme is now trying to strengthen links with smallholder farmers to enhance local agriculture production as well.
  

The government of Kenya is making steps towards the development of a national strategy that will harmonize the two approaches under a common framework.

Key partners

The programmes receive broad-based support from both government and development partners. The Ministries of Education and Agriculture play a leading role in the implementation of HGSF in Kenya with technical support from development partners including World Food Progamme, the World Bank, VVOB, Deworm the World and the Partnership for Child Development, Imperial College London (PCD).

 

   

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