School feeding is a powerful, multi-sector investment that strengthens education systems, improves child wellbeing and support local economies. This was said by African Union Senior Education Policy Officer, Dr Caseley Stephens, during the 11th African Diaspora Scientific Federation breakfast meeting in Gaborone recently. He explained that well-designed school feeding programmes improved health and welfare outcomes, reinforced social protection systems and built community resilience, while increased school attendance and retention.
“It connects nutrition, health and education in one powerful strategy. It contributes directly to human capital formation and long-term economic productivity,” Dr Stephens added. He further highlighted that school feeding aligned with the African Union Agenda 2063, particularly Aspiration One, which envisioned a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable Africa driven by its people.
He further said the holistic impact of school feeding was precisely why its relevance continued to grow across AU member states. Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education, Mr Steve Botlhasitse said school feeding programmes were central to Africa’s development agenda. Mr Bothasitse stressed that access to meals was a key retention tool, warning that learners were more likely to miss school when food was unavailable.
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“If learners are not given meals in our schools, they will somehow miss school,” he said. As such, he urged stakeholders, including the Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs and the tourism sector to adopt a proactive approach to sustaining school feeding programmes. “We must plan ahead and find solutions to ensure that meals are nutritious, safe and accompanied by clean water and good hygiene practices is essential,” he said. Extending an invitation to the business community, Mr Bothasitse said partnerships could help strengthen systems, scale effective practices and build resilience so that every school, in every community, could reliably provide safe and nutritious meals.
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