More than 3 632 889 children are currently benefiting from the schools feeding programme that is helping alleviate hunger among children in the wake of an overwhelming drought. Primary school learners will require 55 408 tonnes by April next year under the Schools Feeding Programme.
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson Mr Taungana Ndoro said the school feeding programme is going well.
"All is moving well. All primary schools are benefiting and other secondary schools are benefiting as well. We are happy that even boarding schools have taken up the programme and extended it to day scholars starting from breakfast to lunch. This is a good development to ensure that all children are benefiting from the programme. We have parents who are even supplying relish, tomatoes and onions to ensure the success of the programme," he said.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education recently received US$15 million from the Treasury to support the procurement of relish for schools. The programme is part of the Government's efforts to improve the welfare of learners, while also reducing malnutrition among children.
Schools have so far collected 13 711 tonnes of mealie meal from the expected 27 531 tonnes for this term. This comes at a time when Government has strengthened efforts to ensure that the cereals deficit of 199 432.54 tonnes will be met from the projected 240 000 tonnes of winter wheat harvest surplus.
Statistics indicate that the current stocks of maize, wheat and traditional grains in the Strategic Grain Reserve (SGR) stand at 228 712 tonnes, which is sufficient to last until January 2025. A cumulative 185 132 tonnes of grain have been dispatched for social welfare distribution between February and October this year.
The private sector is also playing a critical role in grain importation, and to date it has imported 812 165 tonnes of grain since April this year. As part of drought mitigation strategies, the Government has issued 807 import permits to 420 companies to import 4 131 260 tonnes of maize by March 2025, against an estimated deficit of 1 million tonnes.
