Africans resort to school meals to beat hunger

African countries are turning to homegrown school meals to help fight hunger, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, anemia and obesity among children. The meals also improve school enrollment, help build local resilience, and when the food is grown sustainably can play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

As African leaders met virtually on Wednesday to mark the 8th Africa Day of School Feeding, an event hosted by Ethiopia and Morocco, officials said homegrown school feeding reaches 66 million children in 54 African countries.

According to the World Food Programme, investing in school meal programs can increase school enrollment rates by 9 percent and attendance by 8 percent, especially for children from poorer backgrounds in Africa.

"The actions already in place need to be extended to more comprehensive packages to effectively protect children from the multiple crises the world is facing," said Carmen Burbano, director of WFP's school-based programs division.

The African Union, which worked with the WFP to host the day, said studies show school meal programs are effective in increasing attendance among girls, reducing the chances of early marriage, child labor and early and teen pregnancies.

"With school feeding scaled up through effective procurement and supply chains, we would educate and improve livelihoods. Otherwise, children might be tempted to join armed groups and terrorist groups," AU said in a statement.

The statement added by April 2020, 42 countries in sub-Saharan Africa had announced school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving an estimated 50 million children without access to education or school meals.

Hameed Nuru, who heads WFP's Africa Union Global Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said 84 percent of the homegrown programs are funded by domestic African budgets.

"Africa has seen itself become more vulnerable because of the COVID-19 lockdowns and now the Ukraine crisis that sent global food prices soaring last year. This has shone a new light on homegrown school feeding and the need to significantly enhance it, so we can reduce our vulnerability in the future," Nuru said.