Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson has said that the ‘Dishi na County Programme’ has served 30 million meals to 310,000 students in 230 primary schools in the county since inception 14 months ago.
Speaking during a stakeholders and media roundtable forum in Nairobi, Sakaja said that in partnership with the national government, the county is set to invest Sh1 billion in expanding educational facilities to accommodate the increasing number of learners in public schools.
The governor announced that the county currently boasts 17 central kitchens, one in each sub-county, and is looking forward to extend the programme in informal schools.
He thanked President William Ruto for supporting the construction of more classrooms following the 34 per cent increase in enrolment after rollout of the Dishi na County Programme.
“We are committed to ensuring that we can accommodate more learners in our public schools following increased enrolment due to the Dishi na County Programme introduced 14 months ago, plans are already underway to build more classrooms to meet the growing demand,” said Sakaja.
The governor told the forum that the Dishi na County kitchens are producing 1,000 meals each covering hundreds of primary schools in the city daily to provide quality food for pupils since some of them come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Sakaja said the programme has made pupils feel loved and valued bearing in mind that some who could not get lunch felt embarrassed as their colleagues carried lunch to school or had some cash to eat in nearby canteens.
The governor revealed that the central model Kitchen is being replicated in other parts of Africa and when he attended an international conference in Paris, France, participants from various countries were keen to learn about the programme.
“When I showed President William Ruto the Roysambu Kitchen which he laid the foundation when complete he was delighted to see the state of the art kitchen that produces quality meals which are cheap as parents only pay five shillings per plate every day for their children,” said Sakaja.
He noted that the Dishi na County programme has created employment for 2,000 people and most pupils look forward to go to school to enjoy the quality meals.
Sakaja emphasized the importance of proper governance structures and accountability to manage the initiative effectively.
“I will not tolerate misuse of funds in this noble cause of feeding our children, I thank my team for their dedication and hard work in making this a success, my administration is focused on educational support and child welfare which is a key agenda in my manifesto,” he said.
He said that students in public schools wear yellow wristbands embedded with digital technology containing their identification which allows the county to monitor who has paid for Sh5 for the meal and parents load cash directly into the wristbands through mobile money services enabling students to access meals by tapping the wristband at school.
The governor revealed that the county is covering the cost for about 10 per cent of the students who cannot pay and they have subsidized the total cost of all the meals.
Nairobi County Executive Committee Member in charge of Health and Nutrition Suzanne Silantoi told the forum that 14 months after the launch of the programme, the county has become a leader in universal school feeding programme with other cities across Africa out to replicate it.
Wawira Njiru, founder of Food for Education said the feeding programme has made it possible for underprivileged children to access education without the worry of hunger which makes learners to struggle affecting their school performance.
Dishi na County Director Esther Mogusu highlighted the importance of the programme, noting its impact in feeding over 310,000 children citing other initiatives that were tried before like Maziwa ya Nyayo launched by late President Daniel arap Moi.
“We are very proud to be feeding school children in public schools in the city, while late President Moi provided milk through Maziwa ya Nyayo programme during his tenure, Governor Sakaja has facilitated the serving of hot nutritious meals,” said Mogusu.
