Photo: Graça Machel Trust Archive
The 7th African Day of School Feeding is celebrated on 01 March 2022 to ensure that the COVID pandemic does not reverse the gains made in 2019, which saw 65.4million children receiving school meals on the African Continent. An unprecedented increase of 71% compared to 2013 was achieved through commitments made by various countries toward this cost-effective human capital development strategy. Â
A high-level convening moment led by the African Union (AU) continued its efforts to renew and scale-up African countries’ commitments and associated stakeholders to deliver homegrown school feeding programs that advance human capital development and achieve the SDGs. The theme “Nutrition and human capital development in Africa through increased investment in homegrown school feeding” calls for the strengthening of food security by strengthening agricultural systems to accelerate the development of human, social and economic capital on the continent.Â
This year’s celebrations included a two-day online event that sought to encourage ambitious and bold actions, also celebrating Africa’s commitment and leadership in the Global School Meals Coalition. Showcasing ambitious commitments from government and partners, sharing experiences from leading countries, presenting and launching the continental AUDA-NEPAD Home Grown School Feeding Guidelines, identifying ways to reinforce collaboration between partners, and sharing lessons learnt best practices. The event opened with an address from Mr David Beasley, Executive Director WFP on behalf of UN agencies, DR Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Director of Dubai Cares and Ambassador Cessouma Minata Semate of the African Union Commission.Â
Ms Melizsa Mungayeni, CEO of the Graça Machel Trust (The Trust), joined a high-level session of AU member State Ministers. Their aim was to reinforce commitment towards Home Grown School Feeding, the pledge towards the Global School Meals Coalition, and to highlight the organisation’s efforts and plans to strengthen programming for school feeding outcomes in collaboration with Southern African countries. In her remarks, Ms Mugyenyi emphasised the importance of human capital as a critical component of development. It leads to improved individual lives, higher earnings, and enhanced income for countries. She said African children present a potential demographic dividend that can contribute toward sustainable and equitable development if provided with suitable investments.Â
“School Feeding and nutrition programmes are central to the development agenda in Africa and key to inclusive and sustainable growth. In April 2020, however, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all schools closed, leaving 370 million school children without access to the one meal a day they could rely on, setting back many African countries in their development initiatives,” she said. Reinforcing Ms Machel’s sentiments, “Together we must counteract the setbacks caused by COVID-19 and make meaningful investments in improving and restoring sustainable meal programs that many children desperately need.”
While a lot has been done, more can still be done. Under the AU 2022 theme of “building resilience in nutrition and food security on the African Continent: Strengthening Agro-food Systems, Health and Social Protection for the acceleration of human, social and Economic Capital” the Trust, together with its partners, have a unique opportunity to use the year to bring together public, private, civil society and multilateral stakeholders to challenge and support governments to express and strengthen their commitments towards school feeding and nutrition programmes in ways that are sustainable to the environment.Â
In 2021, the Trust entered into an advocacy partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP) to support the WFP 2020-2030 School Feeding Strategy. Through this partnership, the WFP is leveraging the Trust’s expertise and experience in nutrition and draws on the Trust’s founder’s political capital, Graça Machel, to advocate for the integration of Nutrition into School Feeding Programmes. It also provides opportunities for regional and national engagements that position School Feeding Programmes as a budget priority and public investment. Joint efforts will also be made to push for an increased commitment to School Feeding Programme by the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
So far, the WFP and the Trust have engaged in high-level roundtables with WFP leaders and identified critical issues for the envisaged collaborative advocacy actions. The WFP 2020-2030 strategy lays out a clear vision of how it will jointly work with governments and partners to ensure that all primary school children have access to good quality school meals, accompanied by a broader integrated package of health and nutrition services.
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting childrenâs rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Childrenâs Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescentsâ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trustâs goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a motherâs health and social economic conditions, the early years of a childâs life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.