Moshi, TZ – Three schools set to pilot sustainable school breakfast farm – 20 May 2016

Three primary schools in Kahe Ward are piloting a new project to sustainably provide daily breakfast to students by growing food at school. Maendeleo, Mwangaria, and Oria primary schools have begun organizing parents and students with the goal of getting their first seeds in the ground in July so children can start eating a school-supplied breakfast by the end of the year.

The breakfast feeding program in Kahe Ward was first started in 2009. The program began by providing funding for daily breakfast at three primary schools. Funding was arranged on a declining subsidy model where each school’s funding was reduced annually. As subsidies slowly declined, parents were expected to close the funding gap at their children’s schools so that subsidies could be reallocated to other schools, expanding the program.

Even at just $15 per student for a year, many parents could not afford to contribute to closing the funding gap. Tupendane continued working with families to improve their incomes but in January 2016 the Tanzanian government passed a “Free Education” initiative. The initiative made it illegal for schools to ask parents for contributions.

In response to these increasing difficulties Better Lives collaborated with Tupendane, local government leaders, school officials, and even students to design a new program to ensure students could receive a healthy, balanced breakfast to get them through the school day.

The new program is designed to provide a daily meal of corn, groundnuts, bananas, and organic vegetables. All of these ingredients will be grown at the schools and maintained by student Breakfast Clubs and parents. Tupendane will provide ongoing mentoring to the Breakfast Clubs so that participating students will receive hands-on training in agriculture best-practices and leadership skills.

The first step in this new program is for parents to clear a total of 8 acres of farm land at the schools in preparation for planting.