This is the 8th post in a blog series to be published in 2023 by the APET Secretariat on behalf of the AU High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) and the Calestous Juma Executive Dialogues (CJED)

Education is an essential human right that is protected and promoted by several key African Union frameworks on the continent. These frameworks include the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which establishes the right to education as a fundamental human right. Additionally, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990) provides a broader and more comprehensive right to education for children than the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. Furthermore, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003) is another crucial framework that seeks to eliminate discrimination against women and safeguard their right to education as outlined in international declarations and conventions. Additionally, the African Youth Charter (2006) is the first legal framework in Africa that supports national policies, programmes, and initiatives aimed at promoting youth development.[1]

Since the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) by the African Union in 1981, and its implementation in 1986, there has been a significant increase in primary education enrolment rates in  Africa. For example, the gross enrolment ratio in primary education in sub-Saharan Africa expanded from 58% in 2000 to 79% in 2019. This increase is attributable to the efforts made by African governments to implement and provide free and compulsory primary education for all children. Furthermore, the adult literacy rate in sub-Saharan Africa increased from 60% in 2000 to 65% in 2018.[2]

Since the adoption of the ACHPR, several African governments have demonstrated their commitment to education by increasing their budgets for the education sector. For example, in Ghana, government spending on education expanded from 1.7% of the GDP in 1990 to 4.9% in 2017,while Uganda has increased its spending from 2.5% of the GDP in 2000 to 4.5% in 2017. Additionally, the ACHPR  has provided African countries with legal mechanisms to promote the right to education on the continent. For instance, in the case of SERAP v. Nigeria, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that Nigeria violated the right to education under the ACHPR by failing to provide adequate funding for public education. This decision has since had a significant impact on the Nigerian government's education policy and funding decisions.[3] On the other hand, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), was adopted as a legal instrument to promote and protect the rights and welfare of children in Africa. Its implementation has had a significant impact on children's lives in Africa, with several countries using it to guide their policies and practices relating to children. For example, the ACRWC has increased the awareness of children's rights and the need to protect them. Consequently, the ACRWC’s adoption has enhanced the number of African countries to enact legislation to protect children's rights. In 2002, only 11 out of 53 African countries had a comprehensive child protection law, but by 2013, this had expanded to 44 African countries. This represents a significant improvement in protecting children from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence.[4]

Additionally, the ACRWC is playing a pivotal role in safeguarding children against child labour, and child marriage, while also promoting access to education. This is evidenced by the growing number of African countries that have developed policies and programmes to address these challenges. Notably, there has been a significant reduction in the percentage of children aged 5-14 years involved in child labour in Africa, from 32% in 2000 to 19% in 2020.[5] Nevertheless, despite the progress made in expanding enrolment rates, there are still disparities and inefficiencies in this crucial area. Despite improvements in enrolment rates, attendance and completion rates have remained relatively low. Several factors contribute to this limited progress, including health and nutrition issues, concerns about protection, limited financial resources for families and African governments, and the need for many children to work to support themselves and their families, even if they are enrolled in school. Childhood malnutrition caused by hunger is one major factor that has a long-lasting and cyclical effect on learning. It can result in lower productivity and limited employment opportunities in adulthood. Undernutrition can also have serious consequences for academic performance and learning, leading to poor learning outcomes. Poverty exacerbates this challenge of food and nutrition insecurity among children, as many families struggle to provide their children with the necessary nutrition to enable them to succeed in school. Consequently, students from impoverished backgrounds may find it difficult to break the cycle of poverty due to limited earning potential.[6] In addition, hunger tends to have negative emotional and social impact, thereby, leading to low ability to learn and retain knowledge, as well as feelings of embarrassment and difficulty interacting with classmates.[7]

The African Union High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) acknowledges the importance of food and nutrition security among children.  APET, therefore, calls on African governments to enhance their school feeding programmes, which has potential to yield significant benefits such as improved education outcomes and reduced food insecurity among children. To achieve this, African countries can develop a comprehensive policy framework that outlines the goals, objectives, and strategies of the school feeding programmes at the national level. This framework should also identify the target beneficiaries, funding sources, and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

APET Further encourages African governments to mobilise resources from multiple sources, including national budgets, donor support, and private-sector partnerships to fund school feeding programmes. Investing in these programmes can yield significant long-term benefits, including improved health, nutrition, and education outcomes. Additionally, African countries should promote community involvement, as the ownership it generates is critical to the success of school feeding programmes. This entails engaging parents, community leaders, and civil society organisations in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of the programmes. By doing so, the community is empowered to take ownership of the initiative and ensure its sustainability. Therefore, to ensure the programme’s sustainability, African governments should invest in local food production and processing to ensure a stable supply of nutritious food as part of the supply chain of the school feeding programme. This also includes prioritising the development of local markets to promote food security and economic growth. This can be supported by establishing a robust monitoring and evaluation system to track the progress and impact of the school feeding programmes. The system should measure the programme's effectiveness in improving education outcomes, reducing malnutrition, and increasing school attendance.[8]

APET notes that the main goal of the School Nutrition Programme in African countries is to enhance students' learning capacity by addressing short-term hunger, promoting regular attendance, and addressing micronutrient deficiencies. Several African countries have implemented this programme with notable success, such as South Africa, where nine million children receive free meals, Cape Verde, which benefits five hundred thousand children, and Ghana, which has one million and five hundred thousand students benefiting from the initiative.  

Emerging technologies can significantly improve the effectiveness of school feeding programmes in African countries. APET observes that African countries can leverage emerging technologies to enhance their school feeding programmes by using mobile and digital systems, developing e-learning tools, promoting precision agriculture, and utilising blockchain technology. African countries can utilise mobile technologies for monitoring and evaluation, specifically by using smartphones and tablets, to collect data on the programme's implementation and impact. This can help to monitor food distribution, identify bottlenecks, and track programme performance.[9]

Some African countries are already leveraging on emerging technologies for food and nutritional security and school feeding programmes. For example, the government of Rwanda has implemented a mobile-based system called Rapid SMS to collect data on food distribution and monitor the impact of its social protection programmes. The system is used by community health workers to track food deliveries and ensure that they reach their intended recipients. Similarly, the government of Malawi has used mobile phones to collect data on the implementation and impact of its fertiliser subsidy programme, with farmers receiving text messages to report on the availability of fertilisers and the impact on their yields.[10]

The Kenyan government, on the other hand, has utilised mobile technologies to monitor the distribution of cash transfers to vulnerable households. Beneficiaries receive their cash transfers through mobile money, and the government uses data from mobile money transactions to track the program's performance. In addition, the government of Nigeria has used mobile technologies to monitor the distribution of food aid to internally displaced persons (IDPs). Beneficiaries receive food vouchers on their mobile phones, which they can redeem at designated distribution centres. The government uses data from these transactions to track the distribution of food aid. Ghana has also used mobile technologies to monitor the implementation of its National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS),with beneficiaries receiving their health insurance cards on their mobile phones, and the government using data from these transactions to track the programme's performance. [11]

African countries have the opportunity to improve the efficiency and transparency of school feeding programmes by implementing digital technologies. African countries are encouraged to deploy mobile money platforms and other digital payment systems to facilitate cash transfers and improve financial management. A good example is Kenya, which has already made great strides in mobile money adoption through its popular mobile money platform M-Pesa. The platform can be used to facilitate cash transfers to schools and vendors participating in school feeding programmes. Similarly, Nigeria has a large population and a growing mobile money ecosystem. The government could leverage digital payment platforms such as Paga or Interswitch to improve financial management and transparency in school feeding programmes.[12]

Figure 1: M-Pesa – Kenya’s mobile money platform

Ghana has already implemented a digital payment system for its National School Feeding Programme, which is aimed at improving the nutritional status of school children. The system uses mobile money and electronic vouchers to facilitate payments to vendors. Additionally, Uganda is also making progress in mobile money adoption. The government could leverage platforms such as MTN Mobile Money or Airtel Money to improve the efficiency and transparency of school feeding programmes. Tanzania has a well-established mobile money ecosystem, with platforms such as Tigo Pesa and Vodacom M-Pesa. These platforms could be used to facilitate cash transfers to schools and vendors participating in school feeding programmes.[13]

Figure 2: The digitisation of Ghana's National School Feeding Programme

African countries can also develop e-learning tools such as educational games and digital learning materials to enhance children's active learning capacity. African countries can also collaborate with technology companies and education stakeholders to develop e-learning tools that can align with the national curriculum. Furthermore, African countries should promote precision agriculture technologies, such as drones and sensors to increase food production capabilities and improve food nutritional quality.[14] These technologies can also support local farmers and promote sustainable agriculture practices. Additionally, African countries can utilise blockchain technology for supply chain management. Blockchain technology can enhance the transparency and efficiency of the supply chain for school feeding programmes. Fundamentally, African countries can utilise blockchain-enabled technologies to track food distribution, reduce waste, and improve accountability. Leveraging emerging technology for agriculture will ensure supply of food stuffs for school feeding programmes.

APET further recommends that African countries should effectively utilise emerging technologies to achieve sustainable school feeding programmes and promote proper nutrition for academic support. This includes increasing funding for technology-based school feeding programmes. African governments should increase their funding for technology-based school feeding programmes, including the development of mobile applications and online platforms that enable efficient management and monitoring of school feeding programmes. To accomplish this, African countries can leverage public-private partnerships to improve school feeding programmes and promote proper nutrition in schools. Private sector organisations can provide technical expertise and financial resources for technology-based solutions while the government provides the necessary regulatory framework and oversight.[15]

African countries should also explore innovative solutions for food delivery, such as using drones to transport food to remote and hard-to-reach areas. This can significantly improve the distribution of food to schools, especially in areas where transportation is a challenge. Furthermore, African countries can promote digital literacy so to effectively utilise technology for school feeding programmes and nutrition. Therefore, it is essential to promote digital literacy among teachers, students, and other relevant stakeholders. This can be achieved through training programmes and workshops that equip individuals with the necessary digital skills to manage and monitor technology-based school feeding programmes.[16]

Finally, APET encourages African countries to integrate nutrition education into the school curriculum to promote healthy eating habits and raise awareness on the importance of proper nutrition. This can be achieved through interactive learning materials, including videos and mobile applications, that promote healthy eating habits and provide information on the nutritional value of different foods.

 

 

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[1] https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2017-march-2018/africa-grapples-huge-disparities-education.

[2] https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2017-march-2018/africa-grapples-huge-disparities-education.

[3] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=ZG.

[4] https://dullahomarinstitute.org.za/childrens-rights/Publications/Other%20publications/The%20African%20Charter%20on%20the%20Rights%20and%20Welfare%20of%20the%20Child.pdf.

[5] Crawford C. (2022). Niger's Approach to Child Marriage: A Violation of Children's Right to Health?. Health and human rights, 24(2), 101–109.

[6] https://www.heifer.org/blog/how-does-hunger-affect-learning.html.

[7] https://sp4k.org/2022/06/how-hunger-affects-school-performance/.

[8]https://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/government/feeding.html#:~:text=The%20school%20feeding%20scheme%20%2D%20or,for%20children%20to%20attend%20school.

[9] Mohd Javaid, Abid Haleem, Ravi Pratap Singh, Rajiv Suman, Enhancing smart farming through the applications of Agriculture 4.0 technologies, International Journal of Intelligent Networks, Volume 3, 2022, Pages 150-164, ISSN 2666-6030, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijin.2022.09.004.

[10] Hategeka, C., Ruton, H. & Law, M.R. Effect of a community health worker mHealth monitoring system on uptake of maternal and newborn health services in Rwanda. glob health res policy 4, 8 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-019-0098-y

[11] Hategeka, C., Ruton, H. & Law, M.R. Effect of a community health worker mHealth monitoring system on uptake of maternal and newborn health services in Rwanda. glob health res policy 4, 8 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-019-0098-y

[12] https://www.gfmag.com/magazine/march-2023/africa-digital-payments-progress.

[13] https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-supports-ghana-school-feeding-programme-digitize-its-monitoring-system.

[14] https://www.oecd.org/education/Supporting-the-continuation-of-teaching-and-learning-during-the-COVID-19-pandemic.pdf.

[15] https://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/sustainable-agriculture/2739771.pdf.

[16] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/drones-africa-lake-victoria-challenge-region-tanzania/.