The Early Childhood Development Education department has completed the distribution of porridge flour and sugar in all public learning centres in Taita Taveta county.
Education, Libraries and Vocational Training executive Gloria Monikombo on Tuesday said the programme will benefit over 12,000 nursery school learners in 317 centres in the region.
The feeding programme is meant to resolve the challenge of absenteeism caused by severe hunger as a result of a prolonged drought that has adversely affected food production.
The nutrition programme, she said, is a reprieve to parents especially those from low-income households. She noted that this is a move to eradicate diseases associated with starvation.
"Many learners have not been attending classes due to hunger. This programme is geared towards ensuring we have a conducive learning environment for our children," Monikombo said.
The first phase of the Sh14 million nutrition programme will include six tons of sugar and 16 tons of porridge flour.
Monikombo said there has been a significant decrease in the number of pupils in public school due to hunger.
"Majority of our learners had stopped attending school due to hunger. The department is committed to ensure schools register high attendance and thus boost their performance," she added.
The executive said children record higher levels of concentration when their dietary requirements are met, hence boosting education standards.
To boost performance, Monikombo said the department has also committed to convert all ECDE teachers on contract into permanent and pensionable terms and equip the learning centres.
The ECDE feeding programme was launched by Governor Andrew Mwadime a fortnight ago.
The region is among the food-stressed counties with more than 170,000 people facing starvation according to the National Drought Management Authority.
Those in dire need of food assistance include 17,000 children, 76,000 men and 73,000 women.
The most affected parts by the ravaging drought include Kishushe, Sagala, Marungu, Ngolia and Mwatate. Others are Mata, Chala, Mahoo, Bomeni and Werugha.
Starvation has been linked to the growing cases of malnutrition among children in the area.
Data from the health department shows that more than 23 per cent of children under five years in the county are malnourished and with stunted growth.
It is attributed to poor dietary diversity, poor child feeding practices and reduced food intake at household level.
-Edited by SKanyara
