Every fourth child in South Africa is undernourished and every eighth child is overnourished (obese)*.
By providing a daily nutritious meal to all learners to underserved primary and secondary schools, the government’s National School Nutrition Programme is designed to improve children’s ability to learn, but it is fraught with systemic and administrative pitfalls, poor quality and late or non-deliveries. Non-payment of service providers at national level is another critical challenge. All this results in learners going hungry without meals.
The Domino Foundation programme provides nutrition to young people and learners going hungry through a crisis or circumstances beyond their control.
Articles from the Nutrition programme on our blog
Caring in Action
In the Service of Others
Northlands Bread Buddies Making a Difference
Give Us Room
Peanut Butter For Better Results
What Does God Say We Should Do?
“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.” (Matthew 25:35)
Sustainable Development Goals
National Development Plan
This plan envisions a South Africa where everyone feels free yet bounded to others; where everyone embraces their full potential, a country where opportunity is determined not by birth, but by ability, education and hard work.
Good nutrition should be the rule, rather than the exception!
How can we do this together?
This programme enhances learning through meeting children’s physical need for health and balanced nutrition and meals are supplied to crèches, schools, churches, counselling centres, aftercare programmes, and youth holiday clubs through partnerships.
A high protein, soy-based porridge in the morning, a beef bone and vegetable soup served at lunchtime or peanut butter/egg mayonnaise sandwiches are effective ways to change the current nutrition status quo.
Having their children fed at school is an incentive for parents and caregivers to send them to school, the domestic household food-cost burden is reduced, and active learning capacity is enhanced.
In addition to the daily feeding into various establishments, relief hampers (20-litre buckets of non-perishable food and hygiene items) are given to families in crisis (mostly where the breadwinner has been retrenched or a single mother is struggling to provide for her children) who are identified by local community partners.
Reflection
As the years roll by, it’s become clearer that the fight for improved community nutrition is exponentially greater in owner-driven partnerships. Each month, through the three Domino community kitchens, three tonnes of high protein porridge, 13,416 peanut butter sandwiches, 6 pallets of fresh vegetables, groceries and hygiene products, as well as a variety of donated relief aid, enabled our Nutrition Programme to provide food to 24 partnering Primary and Secondary schools, 66 ECD centres churches and other organisations to nourish underserved communities across KZN.
It was a year of strategic expansion for the Nutrition team who became inextricably linked with the Education Programme to strengthen measurement of stunting, wasting and obesity (SWO) rates among school-aged children. 60 of the aforementioned ECDs were visited bi-monthly by the Education Team Field Workers, who assisted with improved frameworks for active learning, accountability, reporting, monitoring and evaluation.
According to the Global Nutrition (GN) Report, South Africa is starting to make modest progress in the effort to reach GN targets. While this is gratifying, the incentive must be to push harder. In a depressed economic climate, having children fed at school is highly attractive and sought after by parents as it relieves the huge domestic food cost burden on their household. It is here that we continue to make a more significant impact!