School feeding activities implemented by the Bandebereho program
Prime Minister, Dr. Édouard Ngirente and Dr. Roy Steiner, Senior Vice President for the Food Initiative at the Rockefeller Foundation met this Wednesday to discuss how to improve Rwanda’s school feeding program.
The meeting happened on the sidelines of the 2024 Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSForum2024) held in Kigali, Rwanda, this week.
At the AFS, the Fortified Whole Grain Alliance was announced aimed at advancing the transition to fortified whole grains for 10M people across five countries as part of their work to address global malnutrition.
Both officials focused on how to specifically use fortified whole grains in school meals to provide nutritious food for children and improve environmental outcomes.
Prime Minister, Dr. Édouard Ngirente (Middle) chaired the brief meeting with the Rockefeller Foundation officials, and line ministries
They discussed the issue of Rwanda shifting from refined grain to whole grain for school children based on the fact that fortified whole grain is more nutritious and actually saves a lot of food than refined grain where you lose 20 to 30% of the food, and 90% of the nutrients on refining.
“This is scientifically proven and something that can be implemented in Rwanda; and Rwanda is really where this idea started and is now being in other countries,” Dr. Roy Steiner said.
“So we are very proud that Rwanda has been the source of the idea and we will have millions of children all over Africa and the world accessing fortified grains,” he noted.
Dr. Roy Steiner (left) and Rwanda’s Prime Minister, Dr. Édouard Ngirente.
The discussions come at a time when the government of Rwanda has approved the second 5-year National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) – (2025-2029) built on 5 priorities carried on from the previous achievements seen in NST1.
Some of the focus areas are lined towards improving the quality of education, reducing stunting & malnutrition, especially after reports indicated that the building school closer to the community and introducing school feeding has reduced primary school drop outs.
Rwanda’s school feeding programme tackling hunger, malnutrition and improving education
In NST2, Rwanda plans to intensify efforts to combat malnutrition, aiming to halve the current stunting rates from 33% to 15%, a goal that could be achievable following the establishment of a major multi-sectoral campaign plan reduce stunting cases- a commitment made by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF-Rwanda) and its local partners in 2023.
The Minister of Education, Gaspard Twagirayezu told media that this program has been existent in Rwanda, in some schools, but the discussions were aimed at improving the capacity of local millers and the reach out-in number of schools.
