Japan funds school feeding programme

Japan has given 1.4 billion FCFA (US $2.5 million) to Cote d'Ivoire to help establish a permanent schools-feeding programme that will enable thousands of poor children in rural areas to get a hot meal at lunchtime. Speaking at a special ceremony at a primary school in the village of Agoueto, 17 km north of the commercial capital, Abidjan, the Japanese Ambassador Yuji Kurokawa, stressed the merits of feeding children at school, drawing parallels with the situation Japanese children once faced. "In 1945, after having lost the war, Japan had become very poor," Kurokawa said. "Numerous children who suffered from malnutrition were saved by the free meals then offered. I set off for school with pleasure because I could eat there." Kurokawa said the schools-feeding programme, which is backed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) would involve the use the fast-growing New Rice for Africa (NERICA) rice, which can be cultivated with less fertiliser and chemicals. It would also provide rice seed and animal feed to women’s groups already involved in the schools feeding programme. The Japanese government has provided substantial assistance to Ivorian children since the beginning of the country's political crisis in 2002, funding the construction of 390 classrooms and helping with the education of some 120,000 displaced children. Japan also provided 2,000 MT of rice to WFP in October 2002 to help meet the food needs of women and children affected by conflict between the government of Laurent Gbagbo and rebels who occupy the northern and western areas of the country. WFP’s recent emergency feeding programme has included the distribution of about 900 MT of food to nearly 25,000 beneficiaries in western Cote d'Ivoire. A WFP mission to the frontier region between Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia recently noted that many of the displaced were returning to their villages. One notable exception was the north of Toulepeu region where the continuing ethnic conflict between the Yacouba and Guere had led to food security problems. Nutritional problems have also come to light in Zouan Hounien, Bin Houye and Teapleu, where widespread illnesses are being blamed on malnutrition and the poor quality of the water. The WFP is still targeting some 300,000 people across the country. In addition, WFP is feeding around 265,000 school pupils in government areas and is due to start feeding another 180,000 pupils when schools reopen in other parts of the country on 5 January.