Stakeholders during the launch of the new initiative aimed at promoting sustainable and healthy diets in schools and colleges at Sportsview Hotel in Kasarani on Tuesday /HILTON OTENYO
Schools and colleges in Kenya will benefit from healthier, nutritious meals following the launch of a new initiative.
The initiative, dubbed the Strengthening Agroecology-Based School and College Meal Systems in East and Southern Africa (SABESA) project by SCOPE Kenya in partnership with Machakos University.
The aim is to transform institutional food systems by promoting sustainable food production, improving nutrition and encouraging schools and colleges to embrace locally available, healthy foods in their meals.
The project, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and led regionally by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) will be implemented for 42 months in Kenya, Uganda and Malawi on pilot basis.
In Kenya, the initiative will be piloted in Siaya, Bungoma, Busia, Murang’a and Kiambu counties.
SCOLE Kenya national co-ordinator John Macharia said the programme aims to transform school and college food systems through agro-ecology, local procurement and stronger linkages between educational institutions and smallholder farmers.
He said stakeholders were exploring practical ways of making school and college meals healthier, more sustainable and locally driven.
“The project comes at a time when school-feeding systems across East and Southern Africa face challenges ranging from unreliable food supply chains and limited connections between schools and farmers to inconsistent finance and dependence on conventional or externally sourced foods,” Macharia said.
He said the project seeks to position schools and colleges as important entry points for connecting food production, nutrition, education, local markets and climate resilience.
The overall objective is to promote sustainable and healthy diets, increase incomes for smallholder farmers and strengthen resilient local food systems through the co-creation, piloting and scaling of inclusive and viable agro-ecology-based school and college food supply systems.
Partners will investigate how agro-ecological production and local food procurement can improve the quality and diversity of meals served in educational institutions while creating reliable markets and livelihood opportunities for smallholder farmers, through Participatory Action Research (PRA) approach.
“This will ensure that farmers, schools, colleges, researchers, government, parents, communities and other food-system actors are active participants in identifying challenges, developing solutions, testing approaches and generating evidence,” Macharia said.
He reported that the project will focus on three key areas; understanding existing school and college meal systems, co-designing and piloting agroecology-based models and generating evidence to support the scaling of successful approaches.
“School meals are more than a source of food for learners. They can contribute to improved nutrition, school attendance and learning while simultaneously supporting local farmers and strengthening local economies,” Macharia said.
Prof James Muola, deputy vice chancellor, in charge of research said that Machakos University will work with relevant government agencies, schools, researchers, farmer organisations, civil society and community stakeholders to examine existing practices and identify opportunities for action, learning and policy engagement.
