Back to school for free food

A free daily meal has been enough incentive to attract a steady increase of primary school children back into class in Zambia's Southern province. The pilot school-feeding programme, launched in July, now reaches 50 schools in five districts, providing a fortified micronutrient-rich porridge for 19,000 young children in the country's most drought-affected areas. "There has been a minimum increase in school enrolment of 20 percent... There is a lot more involvement of parents and the community [in the activities of the schools] and the children are more attentive in class," World Food Programme (WFP) officer, Sibi Lawson, told IRIN. During times of household stress, children are often pulled out of school to help with income-generating activities. The provision of one hot meal a day to pupils in the selected schools is reversing that trend, Lawson noted. Each school's Parent Teacher Association builds the store room, does the cooking, and manages the day-to-day running of the scheme. The initiative, in collaboration with the ministry of education and the UN Children's Fund, also has a de-worming component. A further rollout of the programme is expected in the province, Lawson said.