WFP inaugurates school feeding programme

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) launched on Thursday a US $14.1-million school feeding programme aimed at increasing enrolment and attendance in drought-prone parts of Rwanda. In support of the government’s goal of universal access to education for all by 2010, children in 200 schools in drought-prone areas will each receive a midday meal, composed of maize meal, beans, oil and salt. The programme is expected to benefit at least 180,000 school children. "A child cannot concentrate on lessons on an empty stomach," David Stevenson, the WFP country representative for Rwanda, said. "Giving them a meal will not only increase their attention in class but also reduce on the dropout rate." He added: "Encouraging children to attend school is one of the best investments for Rwanda's economic future. A well fed child is a happy child who will attend class, focus on school and become a good and productive member of society." The girl child Under the school-feeding project, WFP also launched a take-home scheme for girls, whereby parents receive food aid in exchange for ensuring that their daughters remain in school. In schools where this scheme is operational, the dropout rate of girls has reduced from over 50 percent to 4 percent, according to figures from the Ministry of Education. About 34,605 girls receive monthly rations of oil to take home, provided that they attend school for a minimum of 22 days a month. "Education for girls is key to reducing poverty in rich and poor nations alike," Stevenson said. "Studies have shown that well fed girls study better and will, in future, raise her children in better conditions." Parents go hungry In Gashora District, where thousands of school-going children are benefiting from the WFP initiative, parents can hardly afford a meal each day. Local sources said thousands of people had migrated from Gashora to other parts of the country because of drought. "There’s hardly any family that affords two meals a day," Habimana Charles 33, a native of Gashora, said. "For those who can afford a meal, it is only once a day." Gashora forms part of the Bugesera region where an estimated 40,000 families are threatened with hunger following prolonged drought since early 2003 to date. The few residents who can afford a kilogramme of cassava flour have to cross over to Burundi. They have to walk for 20 km and cross a river to find a swamp where the crop is grown. "The situation gets worse," Claver Twagirayesu, a local leader, said. "Even the price of the cassava flour that we have been buying from Burundi has recently shot up." Despite the school-feeding programme, a significant percentage of children return home only to sleep hungry. As for the girls who receive the oil rations, much of it is sold to raise money to buy food for their younger siblings.