By ERIC JUMA
THOUSANDS of learners in schools within Siaya town and its environs have received free lunches under an initiative by NGO Tap2Eat.
The programme targeted learners from Karapul, Mulaha, Siaya Township and Siaya Central primary and junior schools, with the learners expected to receive similar meals on Tuesday.
The initiative, launched on Monday, is expected to ease the burden on parents who have been struggling to provide lunch money for their children.
From Wednesday, parents will begin paying for the nutritious meals served to their children at school.
Parents will top up their children’s meal accounts, enabling learners to access food at school without the hassle of carrying cash or queuing at school canteens.
Hellen Atieno, a parent at Karapul Primary School, said she previously spent about Sh200 every week on lunch for her child but would now only pay Sh20 per day under the Tap2Eat programme.
“I can easily top up the account from my mobile phone and my child would tap and get served the meal,” said Atieno.
According to Siaya Central Comprehensive School headteacher Vincent Kowino, the programme is transforming how learners access meals by enabling them to purchase food through a simple tap using smart devices.
He said the initiative would also ensure learners receive nutritious meals while at school.
“Before the project, lunchtime often came with challenges. Some learners used to fast the whole day, causing them to struggle to concentrate during afternoon sessions,” Kowino said.
The initiative comes at a time when many households in Siaya are facing financial difficulties due to the rising cost of living.
The free meals have also benefited Early Childhood Development (ECD) learners following delays in the supply of porridge flour to schools.
Previously, the Siaya County Government, through ECOspart, supplied nutritious porridge flour to ECD centres.
However, the contractor contracted to distribute the porridge has reportedly halted the programme over debts owed to him by the county government.
More than 50,000 ECD learners risk going without porridge unless the county government settles the outstanding debt, according to officials.
Education Cabinet Secretary Migos Ogamba recently said the Government aims to increase the number of learners benefiting from school meals from 1.9 million in 2023 to more than 10 million by 2030.
Among the partners supporting the ambitious target is Food4Education, which has joined efforts to transform learning by providing meals to thousands of schoolchildren to help improve attendance, concentration and academic performance.
Shalom Ndiku, Head of Policy and Partnerships at Food4Education, said no child should go to school hungry.
Ndiku said the organisation provides affordable meals to learners through a centralised cooking system, where food is prepared and delivered to schools.
“We have kitchens built in those institutions where meals are prepared daily,” said Ndiku.
She said the feeding programme has helped improve learner retention and academic performance, as concentration levels among pupils have increased.
One of the organisation’s key innovations is Tap2Eat, a cashless payment system that allows parents to pay for school meals through mobile money.
Under the system, children simply tap a smart wristband to receive their meals, improving efficiency and accountability.
“Tap2Eat is like a wallet where a parent loads cash using a mobile payment platform into their child’s account. It has enabled us to collect data on trends, including what food learners like most and also the gender that eats most,” Ndiku explained.
