Chairperson for civil society organisations (CSOs) in Mzimba South, Christopher Melele says lack of resources is negatively affecting delivery of school feeding program in the district.
Speaking during a field supervision exercise of the program on Friday, Melele said there is need to find solutions as quickly as possible before many learners drop out of school.
He said: “We have noted that Mtangatanga, Wozi, Kasangazi, Kamwaphimbi, Mathandani and Machelechete primary schools, are generally encountering similar difficulties including lack of food, inadequate resources for cooking and maintaining health and sanitation, for instance, chlorine. There is also lack of training of food handlers.
“School feeding program provides meals that act as an incentive for parents to send children to school and keep them there. I fear that the trend of school dropouts will skyrocket if the pupils are not incentivized enough to steer their motivation towards education,” he said.
Head Teacher for Kasangazi Primary School, Lloyd Mfune said through community contributions, schools are partially relieved the pressure of sourcing maize, soya beans and groundnuts during the harvesting season, but appealed for more support.
“Despite the help from our surrounding communities in sourcing food and help in food preparation, the food sourced is not enough to last us three terms, as a result, we are forced to stop preparing porridge for the learners,” said Mfune.
Nutrition Officer for M’mbelwa District Council, Gift Simkonda said findings of the inspection will be discussed with relevant stakeholders to map a way forward and find solutions to the problem.
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