Feed the kids, grow the nation

JANA-MARI SMITH



Education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa shared her own memories of going to school with an empty stomach during a heartfelt appeal to the private sector to join forces to help strengthen and expand the Namibian school feeding programme (NSFP).

“Those of you who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, like me standing here, would remember being in school when you are hungry. You would lie on that desk, and rather sleep. You would sit and look at the teacher with empty eyes. Nothing would go into your brain, because when you are hungry, your concentration levels and attention span drop,” the minister said yesterday.

She was speaking at the opening of a multi-stakeholder workshop on a draft public-private partnership strategy.

The NSFP currently supports more than 330 000 pre-primary and primary children in 1 400 schools across the country with a mid-morning meal of fortified maize meal.

The minister said it was hoped that with support from the private sector, the NSFP could be expanded to more children and rolled out to secondary schools, and the food options diversified.

The annual budget for the NSFP for 2015/2016 was approximately N$96 million.

Representatives from the poverty and agriculture ministries as well as representatives of companies such as Ohlthaver & List, Pick n Pay, Checkers, Namib Mills and Woolworths, joined the discussions yesterday.

The aim of the meeting was to review and validate the draft public-private partnership strategy and to get consensus on the different roles the private and public sector will play to help foster a better and stronger partnership on school feeding.

The partnership strategy is to be established within the ministry’s recently launched framework of the Friends of Education in Namibia Special Initiative (Fensi).

The NSFP programme has helped the country to address key educational objectives, including increased enrolment, improved attendance and concentration in class, and relieving short-term hunger.

It has helped reduce school dropout rates.

“School feeding is a very important social safety net programme and one of the ministry’s key programmes in addressing access to education and learning, and in contributing to national government goals,” Hanse-Himarwa said.

She said improving the life of one child has benefits not only for that individual and their family but for the whole country.

The minister noted that although the programme was a success, it still faced numerous hurdles and did not address the need of all children.

BaiMankay Sankoh from the World Food Programme (WFP) said these gaps could be plugged by combining forces between the government and the private sector.

He explained that a cost-benefit analysis carried out in 15 countries showed that for every dollar invested in school feeding, there was an economic return of between US$3 and US$10 from improved education and health among schoolchildren, leading to improved productivity when they become adults.

Sankoh said when learners were supported through feeding programmes, their likely success at school and beyond was much higher.

In turn, higher levels of education have been shown to directly affect individual earnings, labour productivity and the national economy.

“Investing in education has high returns,” Sankoh said.

He praised the Namibian government for taking the initiative to feed hungry learners, which is something usually handled by non-governmental organisations in other countries.

The education authorities of a number of countries, including Nigeria, have visited Namibia to find out how this has been achieved.

He noted, however, that it was important to recognise that this responsibility was too large and complex for any government to meet adequately on its own.

He emphasised that globally, 370 million children receive food from governments.

Thirty millions of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa, where the need is highest.

But it is estimated that 20 million children still go hungry each day in Africa.