Home grown school feeding (HGSF) programmes are a win-win for both the children who are attracted to school and learn better, as well as for the local smallholder farmers who produce the food and gain a steady market from the school meal programmes. 

Ms Isatou Jallow, NEPAD Agency’s Head of Nutrition emphasised during a recent technical meeting in Botswana, Gaborone, the importance of the Home Grown School Feeding Programmes in providing children with nutritious food. She added that the programme cuts across various sectors, such as gender, education, trade and health as it provides countries with the opportunity to directly target smallholder farmers, especially women with a ready market for their produce, while children also gain in terms of school attendance and improved nutrition.

Ms Jallow (in blue) addressing participants of the Botswana Home Grown School Feeding Technical Development Plan Meeting

Mr Garekwe, Director of Local Government Finance and Procurement Services, also emphasised this critical link in his opening remarks at the meeting by stressing that “Home grown school feeding does not only benefit school children but also local small holder farmers who have an expanded market and structured demand.”

The NEPAD Agency through its Food and Nutrition Security Programme has supported Botswana’s School Feeding Programme since 2007 which reaches out to 330,000 children, providing them with healthy and adequate meals at school.

The technical working group discussed the preparations for the launch of a Home-Grown School Feeding Programme that will complement the already existing Programme with a focus on locally produced foods.

The existing school feeding programme has proven to be successful according to two reports done by the Botswana Institute of Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA) in collaboration with the NEPAD Agency and the Partnership for Child Development (PCD) in 2013. The outcomes reveal that the Programme supported by the NEPAD Agency has made an important contribution to employment and is highly appreciated by the children and the community. The reports state that the parents of the children have also gained, in that some of them have been employed as cooks.  They grind sorghum, one of the country’s staple foods, using their hands in a process called hand stamping. The sorghum porridge combined with other foods, provide healthy and nutritious meals for children at the schools, supplementing many who would otherwise not afford a good meal at home.

The launch of a Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in the country will add value by focusing on strengthening the local economy and providing small-holder farmers with a source of income.