Do you understand the pain of going to school on an empty stomach,and with zero hope of a meal back at home? Such pain takes away the concentration of thousands of children in this nation, particularly in primary schools, hence, affecting their academic performance.
Though it’s the responsibility of parents and/or guardians to provide food, some are not able to do this regularly due to poverty.
The World Food Programme estimates that each day, an innumerable number of children around the world go to school on an empty stomach, thus affecting their concentration and ability to learn.
According to the WFP, there are also millions of children, particularly girls, who simply do not go to school because their families need them to help in the fields or perform domestic duties.
The benefits of the programme go far beyond a school meal and include consequences for impartiality and inclusion in education at all levels for the sustainable development of a country.
The programme can limit the negative consequences of emergencies on health, nutrition and education, thus, lowering barriers to accessing and completing education, especially for girls.
In regards to this, the county governments, through the national government, should restore the school feeding programmes, set aside an appropriate allocation of funds as well as formulate policies on how the programme can be sustained.
This programme plays a key role in helping children realise their potential, both for themselves and for their communities. Investing in the human capital development of children is among the foremost effective and productive investments that countries can make.
In fact, the programme helps to keep the children in school and as such, they are better placed to complete their education. With an increase in the number of children completing school, the community will in the long term experience an improvement in their economic well-being, thus rising above poverty.
Importantly, health and nutrition in schools, including school feeding, provide an incentive for families to send girls back to school and help girls stay in school, especially during adolescence, effectively preventing early marriage and delaying first pregnancy, both of which can imprison women in poverty and social exclusion.
A good number of pupils are even forced to do odd jobs and work hard despite their young age to earn just that one meal to keep them going. School feeding programmes attract more children to school as it assures them of a meal as well as keep them in school thereby reducing their dropout rates.
The home-grown school feeding programme has the potential to not only create demand for more diverse and nutritious local and traditional food, but also create stable markets, boost local agriculture, influence rural transformation and reinforce local food systems as well as job creation within the society.
To this end, making sure children are healthy and well-nourished while in school is crucial to their ability to learn and thrive. School feeding as part of an integrated school health and nutrition package supports children to become better learners in school and improve their overall well-being.
School meals are a necessary safety net that helps to ensure that every child has access to education, health and nutrition. In the fight against hunger, school meals are a sound investment in the next generation and a country's human capital, hence improving its future economic growth and development prospects.
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