South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
South Sudan joined on March 1, 2024, the rest of Africa to celebrate the African Day of School Feeding at Maluil Akoon Primary School in Aweil East County of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.
Marked every March 1, the day marks the continent’s commitment to mobilizing an enabling environment for school-feeding policymaking and governance.
Awut Deng Acuil, Minister of General Education and Instruction described the day as important since education can’t do well without feeding children.
“This day is a very important day and it was not instituted for nothing, it is because education can’t do well without feeding children,” Deng said during the ceremony held in Aweil East County.
She said that this day was established to raise awareness and knowledge on school- feeding.
“We are proud to continue to create awareness and knowledge on school feeding to get political support for adoption, implementation and sustainment of those school feeding policies, programs and resources,” Deng said.
The School-Feeding Programme supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) aims to increase school enrolment and retaining learners in school over the years in the country.
Tong Akeen Ngor, Governor of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State appealed to donors to increase funding to boost the school feeding program.
“The current conflict in Sudan has brought a huge number of returnees and refugees to the State and their children are now enrolling in schools which have increased the school enrolment, and I bring this to your attention so that you mobilize more resources to respond to this crisis,” Akeen said.
The African Day of School Feeding was instituted by the Assembly of Heads of States during the 26th African Union Summit in January 2016.
WFP officials and officials from the national ministry of general education and instruction have lunch with pupils in Northern Bahr El Ghazal State.
Makeni Walker, WFP Acting Country Representative in South Sudan said that home-grown school feeding enhances the retention and performance of children in school.
Walker said that the school meals provided by WFP these days are very different from the meals consisting of sorghum and beans cooked with salt provided by WFP.
Meshack Malo, the Country Representative of the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that there has been improved food production in Northern Bahr El Ghazal State compared to 2023 when production was way below.
“Last year when food production in the entire country was done, one of the States that have improved the most is this state although it didn’t get to 100 per cent, where you produce enough food for yourselves,” Malo said.
“It means that if they can do particularly the dry season farming then they will be getting to 100 percent but one of the main improvements for this State was the vegetables,” he added.
