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The school feeding program was started in 1979 after the country was hit by a severe drought that affected 80 per cent of the population and resulted in school dropouts.
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The program was meant to cater for learners in ASAL schools as well as the urban poor.
Image: FILE
The National Assembly Implementation Committee now wants the scope of the school feeding programme to go beyond the Arid and Semi-Arid Land schools.
The committee chaired by Budalangi MP Raphael Wanjala noted that needy children are not only found in ASAL regions but also in other areas across the country.
Kakamega MP Elsie Muhanda in her motion sought that the Ministry of Education develop a school feeding policy to cover basic education for pupils and sustain the programme in order to ensure that children are maintained in schools for effective learning and to improve their well-being.
Committee member Cynthia Muge of Nandi on Tuesday questioned why the programme was only being implemented in ASAL schools, terming it as skewed.
According to Muge, the notion that learners who come outside the ASAL areas are not needy is misplaced.
“The targeted rollout of the programme amounts to discrimination. What criteria do you use to determine allocation from school A to school B? The fact that some learners come from areas considered not dry does not mean that they are not needy," Muge said.
She spoke when Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang appeared before MPs to answer queries on the school feeding program.
The school feeding program was started in 1979 after the country was hit by a severe drought that affected 80 per cent of the population and resulted in school dropouts.
The program was meant to cater for learners in ASAL schools as well as the urban poor.
Belio in his response explained that the program has since then gradually expanded to cover a total of 2.6 million million learners in 8,185 schools across the country as of 2024.
He said the government plans to increase the number of learners in the program from 2.6 million to 10 million by 2030 in a bid to attain universal feeding in schools.
"In spite of the current challenges, as a member of the Global School Meals Coalition, Kenya is committed to achieve universal school feeding by 2030, by increasing the current coverage from 2.6 million to 10 million learners," he gave assurance.
Additionally, Belio revealed there is a plan to push that 2.5 per cent of Kenya's revenue be dedicated to the program.
The PS said the ministry is in negotiations with the Kenya Revenue Authority to impose a levy on imported junk food to be ringfenced to cover the national feeding program.
Belio decried that the program has been facing hurdles due to inadequate budgetary funding.
"In the school feeding, we received Sh1.96 billion in the 2022-23 Financial Year. We also received Sh5.4 billion in the 2023 /2024 Financial Year. However, in the FY 2024-25, the budget has been reduced to Sh 3.0 billion," the PS told MPs.
Marakwet West MP Timothy Kipchumba expressed concerns that the budget cuts could lead to food rationalisation for learners.
"PS, does it mean that the budget cuts will now see our learners put under food rationalisation ?” Kipchumba posed.