Many children enter school suffering from stunting, underweight and multiple micronutrient deficiencies, especially among low-income populations such as parts of Zanzibar. Every day children across the island turn up for school on an empty stomach, which makes it hard for them to focus on lessons. Many simply do not go, as their families need them to help in the fields or around the home.
School feeding programmes are widely recognised as important social safety nets for children living in poverty and food insecurity, and as part of national development goals – in particular contributing to the achievement of educational policies and plans, as described in the WFP/World Bank joint publication Rethinking School Feeding (Bundy et al., 2009). Appropriately designed school feeding programmes have been shown to help get children into school and keep them there. Once children are in school, school feeding also contributes to children avoiding hunger and improving their capacity for learning.
Therefore, providing nutritionally balanced school meals combined with nutrition education can improve nutritional outcomes, improve nutrition literacy and eventually enhance school performance. In the long run, this would improve employment prospects, income and promote better livelihoods in later life.
Through local procurement, school feeding programmes can generate a structured and predictable demand for food products, benefiting farmers by building the market and the enabling system around it.
It is the goal of Best of Zanzibar, as it works closely with the Ministry of Education in the North District A schools, to improve enrolment, retention and educational attainment for pre-primary and primary school children. Best of Zanzibar is doing research on what better ways it can serve the children with the right nutrition, in a clean environment while sustaining employment for the women cooking for the schools and farmers providing the produce.
“Even supplying one school meal per day would make the world of difference to the children of Zanzibar” (Ms Mwanaidi Abdalla Former Permanent Secretary for Education, Zanzibar).
Girls preparing porridge at break time.
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Watoto wengi wanaenda shule wakiwa na ukosefu wa mlo kamili au kukosa kabisa mlo wenyewe, hivyo huwasababishia kua na afya dhaifu, na magonjwa yanayotokana na ukosefu wa lishe bora kama Kwashiorkor. Katika kisiwa cha Zanzibar baadhi ya wanafunzi hufika mashuleni wakiwa na njaa, na kuwafanya kutosikiliza au kutoelewa masomo wanayo fundishwa darasani. Wengi wao hubaki majumbani kusaidia familia zao kwenye kazi za mashamba au kazi za nyumbani.
Programu za kulisha watoto mashuleni hutambulika kama sehemu muhimu kwa watoto wanaoishi katika mazingira ya umasikini, na huwasaidia watoto wengi kufanikiwa kuelewa masomo na kubaki mashuleni. Programu za lishe mashuleni ambazo zina utaratibu mzuri zimeonyesha kuwa, watoto wengi waliyomo kwenye programu hizo hubakia shuleni na kuwasaidia katika uelewa mzuri wa masomo yao.
Hivyo basi kutoa mlo kamili, elimu na faida za mlo kamili mashuleni kunaweza kuleta mafanikio ya kiafya kwa watoto, kuongeza ufanisi na matokeo chanya katika masomo yao. Kwa mtazamo wa baadae, programu hizo husaidia watoto hao katika maisha yao ya baadae, kukamilisha masomo yao, kuwawezesha kupata ajira na kuboresha maisha yao baada ya kuhitimu masomo.
Kupitia programu hiyo ya lishe, wanajamii watapata nafasi ya uuzaji na usambazaji wa bidhaa za programu hiyo, wanajamii na wakulima watakao uza vyakula hivyo watafaidika kiuchumu na kiajira, kujiendeleza kimaisha na hivyo kujenga mfumo wa kujiendeleza kwa wote.
Lengo la Best of Zanzibar, ni kufanya kazi kwa ukaribu na Wizara ya Elimu katika wilaya ya Unguja Kasikazini A, na kuboresha uandikishaji wa watoto katika mashule ili watoto waendelee kielimu wakiwa na afya bora. Best of Zanzibar inaendelea kufanya uchunguzi wa njia tofauti za kuboresha lishe katika shule za Wilaya ya Unguja Kasikazini A, watoto wapate lishe katika mazingira safi na salama, pamoja na kusaidia wanawake watakaopika vyakula na ajira na kuwapa kipato wakulima watakao zambaza bidhaa hizo.
Well feed children have a better chance to improve in their academic studies.
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