Zimpapers Logo

Cde Lazarous Dokora

Auxilia Katongomara Chronicle Reporter—
THE Government yesterday launched the much-awaited national schools feeding programme in Bulawayo. Speaking at the launch at Mpumelelo Primary School in Mpopoma yesterday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora said the programme will benefit the country’s 8,651 schools and about 4,2 million learners will be targeted.Dr Dokora said the Government together with strategic partners that include World Food Programme, will buy food for the scheme from local communities and the schools themselves to empower them.

“While other school feeding models additionally provide take-home rations for learners, the cost effective approach in Zimbabwe is the feed-at-school model.

“If this objective is to be fully achieved, there will be need for a school feeding model where food for the learners is sourced from the schools and local communities in order to build a sustainable school feeding programme. The vision of the ministry in this respect is to impact positively on the socio-economic development of the communities surrounding our schools in a win-win partnership; with communities marketing their products to the schools,” said Dr Dokora.

He said the programme was an essential tool for the development and growth of children. “It has many demonstrable advantages, but it has its greatest impact among learners who receive sufficient nutrition to allow them to concentrate on school tasks while developing into healthy adults,” said the minister.

School feeding, said Dr Dokora, has been proved to have a positive impact on attendances at school, improved learning outcomes, health and gender equity, poverty and hunger reduction.

He said pupils will eat mainly locally produced foods like beans, sorghum, millet, rapoko, potatoes, meat, amacimbi (mopane worms) and peanut butter. Dr Dokora said his ministry has provided proposals for the food menu with a balanced diet made up of starch, protein, vegetables and a fruit.

He made a passionate plea to parents and the business community to support government efforts to mitigate hunger among pupils. He said his ministry drew inspiration for the school feeding programme from the Brazilian model which has one of the largest feeding schemes for learners in the world.

All primary schools, he said should start feeding their learners in a phased approach starting with infants and gradually moving to older learners. Dr Dokora said all schools must construct cooking and feeding shelters before launching the programme.

“There shouldn’t be allowances paid to those who are cooking for the learners otherwise we will kill the programme and any product that gets into the schools should be confirmed first by Ministry of Health officials,” he said. Bulawayo Provincial Minister of State Cde Eunice Nomthandazo Moyo, in a speech read on her behalf, said the province sorely needed the scheme.

She said Bulawayo was hard hit by food shortage and a high rate of unemployment. Mpumelelo Primary School head Mrs Patricia Chibelu said 15 volunteers from the community that had been tested for illnesses and had police clearances, were cooking for the learners.

Yesterday pupils were served rice, beans and mixed vegetables. The school has come up with a day to day menu with a variety of food stuffs. Members of the business community also pledged support for the programme with Zero Supplies offering to supply the school with one tonne of grain and 100 kilogrammes of sugar beans.

In April, Dr Dokora announced that the Government had secured 40,000 tonnes of grain for the schools feeding scheme in the rural areas. The grain is expected to cover one school term.

Dr Dokora said schoolchildren would receive one hot meal a day, adding they realised that most children came to school on empty stomachs last term, while others dropped out of school due to hunger. Cabinet approved the $200 million national schools feeding scheme to ensure food security following the prevailing El Nino-induced drought.