School feeding programme success marks World Food Day

The WFP in Kenya said on Tuesday that over 1.6 million children in more than 6,000 schools in Kenya were receiving free lunches under the WFP's school feeding programme. "By giving food to children at schools, we make sure that they are in the classrooms, and can truly benefit from the education they receive," the WFP country director for Kenya, Tesema Negash, said in a statement to mark World Food Day 2001. Negash highlighted the impact such programmes have had in Kenya's arid, predominantly pastoral, districts. According to Negash, enrolment and school attendance had grown in Turkana, Samburu, Baringo and Koibatek districts as a result of WFP-provided school meals. "We know education is the best investment in the future. With the school feeding programme, WFP is making sure that the investment bears fruit, and children grow healthy and able to fulfil their potential," said Negash. WFP Executive Director Catherine Bertini on World Food Day called on national governments and members of the humanitarian aid community to help create a global school feeding programme. "Feeding and educating children are key to closing the gap between rich and poor," Bertini said in a statement. "Giving a nutritious meal to a poor student today is key to helping him or her become a literate, socially responsible adult tomorrow," she added. According to WFP, there are currently 300 million chronically hungry children worldwide.