Paris – The Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition based in the United Kingdom has committed to supporting Zambia in conducting research to come up with evidence – based data on the impact of the School Meals Programmes.
This came to light during a bilateral meeting held between the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Vice President Ms Lillian Kapusana in the company of Ministry of Education Director of School Health and Nutrition Mrs Malalu Mulundika and the research consortium on the margins of the School Meals Global Coalition first ever summit in Paris, France.
Ms Kapusana who is also the Deputy Chairperson of the Standing Committee of Permanent Secretaries on Nutrition sought for strategic collaboration with the research institute in order to document with scientific data Zambia’s Homegrown School Meals Programme.
Ms Kapusana highlighted the importance of having data as the country seeks to scale up the feeding programme to the remaining 46 districts.
The Permanent Secretary stated the school feeding programme has become a flagship for Zambia to other countries in the agrifood systems pathways transformation.
She observed that following the introduction of free education by President Hakainde Hichilema, there has been an increase in the number of school enrolment as such it would be important to mobilise international support based on data as the country moves towards expanding the coverage of the programme.
In response, Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition Director Professor Donald Bundy committed to supporting Zambia’s proposal to carry out research on the School Meals Programme.
Professor Bundy noted with admiration Zambia’s success story of the Homegrown School Meals Programme and called for immediate constitution of the team comprising researchers and nutritionists interested in the welfare of the children to work closely with their office to lay a foundation of the research work by first conducting a case study of the programme as an immediate intervention.
Professor Bundy commended Zambia on her achievement of including over 2.3 million learners on the feeding programme.
He further expressed interest in building strong collaboration with nutrionists in Zambia interested in the welfare of the pupils.
The first meeting of the School Meals Global Coalition Summit officially opened in Paris, on October 18th,2023 with a call to nations to ensure that every child has access to school meals by 2030.
90 Member States and 100 non-governmental organisations are attending the UN’s World Food Programme supported initiative which is aimed at improving and restoring the School Meals Programmes Worldwide.
French Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships Chrysoula Zacharopoulou officially opened the summit on behalf of President Emmanuel Macron and acknowledged the significance of the School Meals Programme, a public health policy which brings social justice and equality to all learners.
Meanwhile, World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain announced her organisation’s contribution of 300 million euros to the coalition to advance the feeding programme and expand the coverage worldwide.