ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Walking into Felix Malinda¡¯s office at Namilongo primary school, in southern Malawi, felt like stepping into a different world. There was no technology in sight ¨C just posters and papers covering the walls and Malinda's wooden desk.

The only cutting-edge equipment around were my cameras, capturing images of the school, its teachers and students ¨C and recording a ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ (WFP) colleague interviewing Malinda. Sharply dressed in a grey suit and striped tie, the headteacher described his deep esteem for his students and fellow teachers.

Hand-drawn posters were plastered across his large, airy office, listing projects like a ¡®school improvement plan,¡¯ and reminders that ¡®vulnerable children have a right to education.' It felt like a space where students and teachers shared a mutual sense of responsibility and respect.

ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳partners with Malawi primary schools like Namilongo to buy the ingredients for school meals from local farmers. It¡¯s a win-win for the entire community. Students benefit from fresh, nutritious meals. Farmers benefit from steady clients for their fruits, vegetables and legumes. Parents ¨C many of them farmers ¨C know their children are attending schools that feed both stomachs and minds.

Findings show WFP¡¯s school meals programme in Malawi helps reduce absenteeism and increases attendance. But the potential windfalls are much bigger: producing returns on investments in areas ranging from local economies, to health and gender equality. That¡¯s key for Malawi, one of the world¡¯s poorest countries, where more than 5 million people are food insecure. Extreme weather, including an El Ni?o-sparked drought this past year, has hit smallholder farmers ¨C who account for 80 percent of the population.

¡°In the past, our learners would drop out of school because of various reasons, including poverty and hunger,¡± headteacher Malinda said. That¡¯s stopped, he added, since the locally sourced meals programme, ¡°and we have noticed that the school¡¯s enrolment is growing.¡±

Filming Malinda was my last task of the day. I had spent the morning photographing his students eating a WFP-supported breakfast of porridge, and captured images of an English grammar lesson. I focused on a 14-year-old girl called Hapsa, who was about the same age as my daughter.

¡°My children are benefiting from this project because their nutrition status has improved and I¡¯m able to buy them clothes,¡± said Hapsa¡¯s mother, Matrida Chikoko, one of the farmers supplying produce to Namilongo. Her two boys also attend the primary school.

¡°They eat breakfast every day at school,¡± Chikoko added. ¡°I observe healthy bodies in my children because they eat diversified food, whereas at home I used to feed them only nsima (maize meal) and relish (vegetable sauce).¡±

I still think about Hapsa, who is about the same age as my own daughter. What kind of life would we have, had my family been born in Malawi? I imagine my own daughter attending Namilongo primary school ¨C and how its values of care, respect, and education would make any parent proud. 

Learn more about WFP's work in Malawi