‘‘The schools will use the money allocated to them to purchase food from local smallholder farmers and traders dealing in food supply business,’’ assured Dr Kipsang. The PS was speaking at Aremiet Primary School in Isiolo County during the handing over that was also attended by Governor Mohamed Kuti and Senator Fatuma Dullo. ‘‘The ministry has put in place sufficient measures to provide meals to more than two million children,’’ he said. The initiative dubbed ‘home grown school meals programme’ will see schools get money from the government directly to buy food from local communities. Each pupil will be allocated Sh10 per day during school calendar in the lunch only programme. “This year we have set aside Sh2.4 billion towards the school feeding programme. The schools will work with local communities to ensure the initiative is successful,” Kipsang said. He said the government will only procure food for four counties in arid lands where food production is low.
The WFP reaches 1.6 million pupils in arid and semi-arid counties. Early Childhood pupils would also benefit, said the PS. WFP Country director Annalisa Conte lauded the government for taking over the initiative, saying the programme should continue as it would retain pupils in school and support the agriculture sector. “The number of children under the feeding programme has grown from 500,000 in 2009 to 1.6 million this year. Despite WFP exiting, we will continue to provide technical support to the government to ensure its success,” Ms Conte said. Dr Kuti said the school meals programme had increased enrollment in the county but also boosted brain development. “Isiolo is one of the 25 counties where 26 per cent of children under five are malnourished and have stunted growth. Stunted growth affects brain development and performance in school but the feeding programme will help address these conditions and improve our children’s academic performance,” said the governor.
