Government in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP) has embarked on a school feeding programme in 50 districts around the country.
Government is expected to fund 60 percent of the programme while the remaining 40 percent will be funded by the WFP through provisions of food items.
Speaking during the stakeholders Meeting, Kasempa District Commissioner Goodson Sansakuwa noted that the home grown school meals programme is intended to reduce the number of drop outs from eight percent to 3.5 percent on average.
ZANIS reports that Mr. Sansakuwa said the distribution of food items is supposed to start before schools open in January next year hence, all those involved in the implementation are called to work toward making the programme a success.
And Kasempa District Education Planner Dyson Fungaloko highlighted that the WFP intends to buy food from the local famers as a means of economically empowering the communities.
Mr. Fungaloko explained that the home grown meals will be giving food rations to schools termly while, the district is expected to receive its first consignment of 196 tonnes of maize, 32 tonnes of legumes and 63.3 tonnes of cooking oil during the coming week.
He said the total consumption was calculated based of the number of pupils from nursery school to grade nine and with Kasempa having 69 primary schools.
Meanwhile, District Education Standard Officer George Kambita has called on farmers to take advantage of the empowerment programme under the WFP and improve on production and sell to support the programme
He said WFP will be buying more than 10 tonnes of locally grown food such cow peas, beans and maize to support the home grown meals.
Good for the children……i bet it had to take an inicetive thought and driven by WFP for this to materialise…..while we have ba koswe mumpoto….
This will upset HH, please keep the children hungry
I am NOT proud being Zambian- just too poor. Britain laughs at us, we have no brains , we have Aids and we are poor.
Soon I will be applying for my indefinite leave to stay in the UK
Thanks
BB2014,2016
VIVA Zambia… this is what we want. With such programs on uplifting everyone one and everything as we go along.
Wow ? clap clap clap
This is a good policy and good thinking.
Number one on the table. Let’s still roots out the embezzlement and punish those abusing public funds. We still need this sorted.
In as much as this is good. Control on public expenditure is number one!!!!!
Well done.
A good initiative by the third hungriest country in the world. What a shame that Zambia is such a hungry nation!
Just improve standard of living not this nonsense…using funds for consumption!
@Mushota indefinite leave thanks to Nick otherwise you have been back to your poverty-stricken village! Mind not every one looks at Zambia like you- we (including myself) always look forward to going to Zambia. Come to think of it, I’m retiring soon and where am I going to live? In Zambia Mushota the PhD wannabe!
MB – You stay in the UK, you have a paying pension for life. FACT
You have the best medical care money can buy for FREE in the UK
You have better food in the UK, better weather, than Zambia.
You mingle with the best here, what am I talking about?
Well when you retire soon, please think again, It is ridiculous and rather ludicrous to want to go back when you have acquired your legal status in the UK- or have you?
Thanks
BB2014,2016
@Nubian Princess it will anger him because it WFP who are financing and running it because they don’t trust the the current administration. This should really anger us all!
@Mushota I went to a school in Kitwe Frederick Knapp) which was better than schools in the UK; I had free education (my parents never paid more than K2 per annum)’; shortages in the KK days made me desire more as I was skilled. Skilled labour always seek better. Mushota awe it’s time to give back and demand from what is rightfully ours!
MB- A great start doesn’t always make a desired ending. You did well to have been educated as well that many years ago. What I am saying is, I would rather acquire further education much later than lean on the nostalgic achievements I acquired in the past.
I am not fond of wishing anyone well , least on LT, but quiet honestly I dont like to be liked. I wish you well though as you embark on your journey back.
To want to go back to Zambia instead of living in the UK for the rest of your life here is the MOST bizarre decision I have had the misfortune of hearing.
You are fortunate I just add to be contemplating going back when we have a stable, noble and functioning Government at our helm
Either way, you shouldn’t really, unless you have a questionable job here – However who am I…
A useful brain and head between any person’s shoulders decides to live in England than go and live back in AFRICA were the lifespan of the population there is 40 or below- meaning really that one is fortuitous to be alive over 50 and living there- they are defying the law of averages.
Respect these is all I ask – biting the hand that feeds you, is the most dishonourable thing you could ever have done.
Think again, your life should belong here.
I hold a PhD
Thanks
BB2014,2016
Mushota don’t lie to people, Zambia’s weather is far more superior to British weather.. 90% of English people hate the weather in this country which explains why most of them are always trying to go on holiday to Spain to catch a tan (get brown) n be warm. In UK weather is only good for just under half the year. The good food in this country is flown or shipped here on a daily basis because the weather and the soil here is not CONDUCIVE for agriculture, most things can’t grow in this horrible unstable British weather. Only thing great about this country is the mindset which is progressive, English people are also quite united among themselves, and they demand high standards and expectations from their leaders and country at all cost.
Eye – I dont buy that, what is yiour descritption of bad weather?
The reason people go on Holidays is because like me, they have money to ‘burn’ so they go and explore other countries.
The reason Zambians dont do that is because they dont have money to. FACT
On food, you are talking about cropping? we have farms in Scotland, England where produce are produced. We have Markets here- you strike as quiet strange
The best seafood is in the UK (not zambia), chicken you can argue that African chickens are better ( which i disagree- those are chickens that eat up to faeces, anything, they are dirteir, the British chciken is from electricity and are forced corn fed), we have you say what.
Interesting you only talk about food, what of Heath Services, Jobs, pollution,…
@Mushota, the Brits don’t count. They’re in a batch of losers wealthy Nations period.
@Mushota, I would choose the Canadians double digits before I even start looking at the Brits in any class period.
@Nkana Kitwe I agree Canada might have the best health system and even the best social security in the world! But for those of Chiluba or Second Republic and most people might not know this but we had the best economy in the third world. Not even Malaysia or Singapore were our peers. We need to come together as a nation and work as one country. These party politics are deciding us.
@Nkana Kitwe I agree Canada might have the best health system and even the best social security in the world! But for those of Chiluba or Second Republic and most people might not know this but we had the best economy in the third world. Not even Malaysia or Singapore were our peers. We need to come together as a nation and work as one country. These party politics are dividing us as a country! Mushota let’s make a new Zambia for God’s sake by supporting the right stuff only!
Funny enough I work in seafood, you are right there, England has great seafood, you know why???? It’s an island you piece of sh.i.t
Other than that, go to any British supermarket, the largest majority of food in England is imported, this country once again doesn’t have the climate nor the soil to produce its own food. They can produce potatoes, strawberries etc etc, and some beef, by the way very tasteless beef which is full of chemicals.
Anyway, Zambia is a far much better country than England, if you think I’m strange for saying so, so be it. Zambia has all the resources that keep the British economy from crumbling, we give all those resources away for peanuts due to the fact that most Zambians think Like you Mushota, basically seeing little to no value in our own country and…
As to going on holiday, “ most people in Africa, think we British people have lots of money to go on holiday, but the truth is we have to save and work for months to be able to go on holiday..” this is something a British man said to me today as it happens.
Yes Zambia is a poor country in Money terms and yes UK is richer than us in money terms, but this doesn’t mean we should put our country down in the retarded manner that you do Mushota, people that think, act and talk like you are the biggest problem that we have…
It wouldn’t surprise me if even the president thinks like you going by how badly he wants to be out of Zambia all the time.
u5 doesnt like such stories
Again foreign help…..
They lazy foools use their cash to buy overpriced Fire Trucks and Ambulances.
3 mansion u5 just wants to hear about konwe mumpoto. and cbu shooting
dollar is back at k 10 during this xmass festive season when it always soars above k 11.
For now we are still far away from having a situation where wealth is uniformly distributed across the nation, this means we have a whole bunch of people that can’t afford to feed their children, so in this case it’s right for the government to feed their children at least one meal a day.
It’s a commendable and compassionate act.
This is a version of the Coupon system that Kaunda tried once upon a time. The ultimate solution is supposed to be job creation or business incentives for Zambians. Create an enabling environment for private sector job creation to empower Zambians with meaningful jobs or genuine business opportunities.
We should desist from teaching the future generations the begging bow mentality or dependence syndrome.
Agreed with you 100% mate. My thoughts exactly as I was reading this. Bloggers praising this are missing the point. To think more than 50 years after attaining self-rule we still have hungry kids attending school is embarrassing and unacceptable.
We need to be thinking of initiatives that will empower the parents so they can feed their own children. Economical empowerment as you have pointed out is a good start; access to good quality education and healthcare are other basic needs.
I’m not saying it is bad, but we need to think beyond freebies, aid and food assistance. Why not inject the money into better quality agriculture and farming methods; but parents equipment so they can grow their own food? Most of this food will be imported processed foods (in some cases expired or past…
…or past the ‘use-by-date’
For now we are still far away from having a situation where wealth is uniformly distributed across the nation, this means we have a whole bunch of people that can’t afford to feed their children, so in this case it’s right for the government to feed their children at least one meal a day.
It’s a commendable and compassionate act.
“the begging bowl”
This is good for our under fed children really learning on empty stomach can be painful, thanks be to the govt .
This is done in most developed nations helps children to grow their brains and love for school .
This will improve school attendance and reduce malnutrition in children , really our children have suffered far too long .
Our village subsistence farmers will as well benefit as they will readily have money in their pockets in return zambia shall have a healthy nation , and well fed people and hunger and poverty reduced .
Mate, which ‘most developed nations’ are you talking about where there are starving school going children so much that you have government programs to feed them? Please stop misleading people and praising mediocrity and incompetence. Where I live there is no such nonsense. Every parent parks food for their kids every day for their snack and lunch… only time you have schools doing food is when they are fundraising and asking for kids to give a dollar coin in exchange for a hot dog or something.
See my post above. We need initiatives that will empower parents to feed their own children. Don’t be lied to, this food will come already processed from abroad and very little will be sourced from the local farmers. Put initiatives into the community so that everyone can eventually grow…
…Put initiatives into the community so that everyone can eventually grow their own food to feed their kids.
I support the initiative but it should only be a temporary measure that is not worth praising. Show me what the long term plan is and I will will either praise it or provide an alternative suggestion.
Mate in England, Wales, Scotland the government provides school dinners and has been for the last 40 + years…
Poverty is the cause of hunger among Zambians.
And poverty is caused by the selfishness of our leaders.
In Zambia, the gap between the rich and the poor is one of widest and wildest in the world.
So disappointed with how much ignorance there is on this site.
Feeding programs are not a measure of poverty.
The fact that South Africa have such programs does not mean the country is poor.
Every country in the world has hungry people including the UK and US.
In South Africa for example,elderly people get paid by government for doing nothing.What does it means?
The Uk you are referring of which I have first hand information, cause my kids go to primary school here have the same system. SHUT UP!!!!!! they do exactly what the government is trying to do there. They have free meals and farmers supply the schools therefore, creating income for farmers. It is called a win win situation you f.ools!!!!
Alternative you have never seen the world.
We are not taking about where you are , you have never heard about foodbanks , and where people depend on benefits for their living .
Where you are such things are not heard of , poverty is found in every nation on this earth either you like it or not even in America you find food banks , poverty only differs to some extent.
In America you find people sleeping in streets on this earth there is no heaven .
It’s better for our government to feed our children than purchasing high powered 4 by 4’s for Ba Koswe aba Mumpoto
I do agree with you eye ,
it is better to feed those children in school than have those politicians wasting money on those lavish 4×4 cars .
Really the venerable citzens need to be helped to meet their basic needs in life than spend colossal amounts of money on those fire tenders which mean nothing to the people in villages where you dont even find roads.
MUSHOTA,WHERE ARE YOU FROM.I HAVE A FEELING THAT YOU MAKING A LOT OF THINGS UP.ZAMBIA IS NOT IN MANY WAYS LIKE LONDON BUT NEITHER LONDON LIKE ZAMBIA.TODAY MOST OF MY FRIENDS TRAVEL TO SOUTH AFRICA OVER A WEEKEND.TODAY YOU DONT NEED TO YEAN AFTER LONDON OR OTHER PARTS OF EUROPA EVEN IF SOME DO IT.IN MANY WAYS WE,THE COUNTRY HAS CHANGED.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE IN ZAMBIA.ZAMBIA IS A PRODUCT OF ITS HISTORY.I STAY IN SWEDEN BUT ZAMBIA IS THE LAND OF BIRTH,OUR FORFATHERS FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM YOU ME AND EVERYONE ALIVE IN ZAMBIA TODAY.
IF YOU ARE CRITICAL OF SOMETHING,TRY TO HELP OUT THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVE AVENUES.
THE COUNTRY HAS A LONG WAY TO GO BUT THEY ARE TRYING.THAT SHOULD MEAN SOMETHING.
ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION SHOULD PROVE TRUE SOME DAY.ITS MY DEEPEST PRAYER.
It’s embarrassing that the government always need third party help to do something like this for its own people. Everyone is done backwards, what’s the point of creating jobs and building roads if your own people are too hungry or sick to use them. There’s definitely a way to feed hungry people in Zambia, you get a better picture of what money is coming and going when you live outside Zambia. So much money is living Zambia and little staying in but our politicians are too corrupt and dull to capitalise on our national resources by agreeing better deals with investors like how the Arabs are doing it.