More than a dozen counties have rolled out a free milk programme for learners in Early Childhood and Development Education (ECDE) centres in a move reminiscent of the 1980s and ’90s ‘Nyayo’ school milk programme.
This initiative should be encouraged as it comes at a time when the country is smarting from the worst drought in nearly half a century.
Despite the recent heavy downpour in virtually all parts of the country, the food situation is still dire as no significant harvests have been made, meaning millions are still struggling to put food on the table.
The school feeding programme, whose funding the government has doubled from Sh2 billion to Sh4 billion in the financial year beginning next month, will give succour to, especially, learners in marginalised regions.
This great initiative will, hopefully, address the rising cases of malnutrition and stunting among children under five, many of whom fail to report to school due to a lack of food at home and at school.
The milk will not only quench their thirst and keep them excited about school; it will offer just the kind of nutrients they need for a healthy foundation in life.
Besides shoring up enrollment numbers and improving nutrition, the programme offers a ready market for locally produced milk in a win-win arrangement that puts money in farmers’ pockets and bolsters the strategic goal of an educated populace for personal, family and national prosperity.
The authorities must, however, guard against the main peril of all Kenyan supplies schemes—corruption. The school feeding programme must be rolled out in a transparent and accountable manner to lock out rent-seekers and ‘tenderpreneurs’, who have in the past wrecked noble initiatives in pursuit of narrow, selfish gains.
