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School meals give children in Kenya the energy to learn

For 10-year-old Buke Nura, having food at home isn't a given. When the drought makes it hard for families to make their food last, school lunch becomes especially important.

When 10-year-old Buke Nura arrives at school, it’s not just classes and friends that await him. There’s also food here that makes it easier for him to get through the school day. In northern Kenya, where drought forces families to struggle to put food on the table, school meals can be crucial for children’s ability to learn and develop.

Ten-year-old Buke Nura is chopping sukuma with a large knife for today's school lunch. She smiles and looks into the camera. In the background, you can see several other people preparing sukuma.

Buke Nura chops sukuma for today's school lunch. Photo: Annika Fransson Wetter

Kenyan girls in school uniforms are chopping vegetables on a table. They are deeply focused on their work.

Students at Golole Primary School are preparing today's harvest from the school garden. Photo: Annika Fransson Wetter

Buke Nura chops sukuma for today's school lunch. Photo: Annika Fransson Wetter

Students at Golole Primary School are preparing today's harvest from the school garden. Photo: Annika Fransson Wetter

When I'm at school, I know I'll get something to eat. But when I go home, sometimes I don't get a meal

Buke Nura

Golole Primary School is located in an extremely arid region where rain is often scarce. When water runs out, pastures dry up and livestock die from a lack of water and grass. For families who depend on their animals for food and income, the drought has serious consequences. It becomes difficult to provide enough food for the family.

A group of students is walking through the schoolyard at Golole Primary School. In the background, you can see a few school buildings, trees, and, a little further away, a mountain in Ethiopia.

The schoolyard at Golole Primary School. Photo: Annika Fransson Wetter

Golole Primary School has over 700 students of various ages. Here, Principal Rob Buke knows what a difference it makes when students are provided with meals throughout the day.

“When school meals are available, more children come to school. At home, they don’t always know if there will be enough food, but at school they feel safe. School meals motivate the children to come here and encourage more of them to stay in school,” he says. 

School meals motivate children to come to school and encourage more of them to stay in school

Rob Buke

For the past year and a half, the school has had a school garden where spinach and cabbage, among other things, are grown. With support from Erikshjälpen, the school has received a water tank and water pipes that make it possible to grow crops despite the dry climate.

A group of Kenyan boys in school uniforms are rinsing their plates at a black water tank before they have lunch.

A student is rinsing his metal plate under a faucet attached to a black water tank.

Children in school uniforms are harvesting green crops in a fenced-in garden. The crops are growing in brown soil. Outside the fence, a wheelbarrow and the Ethiopian mountains are visible in the distance.

Principal Rob Buke smiles broadly as he leans against a school building.

“Being able to grow vegetables here in Golole used to be a dream. Now we can harvest fresh vegetables right from our own garden,” says Rob.

Previously, the school had to buy vegetables from other parts of Kenya, several mil away. Now they can harvest as needed and serve vegetables to the students. This strengthens the school’s food security and makes the meals more nutritious.

“School meals help children concentrate better in class and perform better. A hungry child has a harder time learning than a child who has eaten,” says Rob.

A child in a school uniform is crouching down, rinsing sukuma in a pot of dirty water. The pot is on the ground. A bag of sukuma is leaning against the pot.

A woman’s feet are visible. She is standing next to a black pot, cooking freshly harvested sukuma over a wood-fired outdoor hearth. The woman is stirring the pot with a thick stick.

A woman is cooking outdoors in a large metal pot. Steam is rising from the pot. She is stirring the contents of the pot with a long, sturdy wooden utensil. In the background, happy children are standing at a table, chopping vegetables. Several of them are looking into the camera.

Hands reaching toward plates of food. The plates are on a round table divided into a yellow section and a red section. The meal consists of rice, beans, and sukuma, a type of green cabbage.

For Buke, school meals mean she can eat lunch with her classmates and have the energy to get through the day’s lessons. During recess, she enjoys playing soccer, and her favorite subject is English. She also helps take care of the school garden.

“I really love it! I’ve learned how to grow vegetables, pull weeds, and water them regularly. The spinach is really delicious. When we get vegetables in our school lunches, we feel so happy,” says Buke.

Buke dreams of attending university and becoming a veterinarian. For that dream to come true, she needs to be able to go to school. With access to water and nutritious food, children are better equipped to get through the school day. Knowledge of farming also gives them skills they can carry with them long after they finish school.