National School Nutrition Programme

1
National School Nutrition Programme

• Presentation to Standing Committee for Education
• 24 August 2005

2
Focus of presentation

• Provide committee with a brief overview of status
  of NSNP 18 months into its management by the
  Education Department
• Highlight some of the key shifts made
• Highlight further shifts being contemplated

3
Targets of NSNP in 2004/5 f/y

• Ensure smooth transition of scheme from DoH to
  DoE
• Create capacity to manage scheme at all critical
  levels
• Improve quality of food and service
• Ensure feeding for at least 156 of the total
  number of school days
• Refine targeting criteria to ensure reach to
  poorest learners

4
Achievements in Year One

• Programme successfully transferred and integrated
  into education
• Feeding approximately 5million learners in 16 000
  schools for required number of days
• Created NSNP units in all 9 provinces
• Provided training for 200 district managers on
  project management special focus on monitoring
• Visited and monitored programme in 4 248 schools
  mainly in rural, farm and informal settlements

5
Achievements in 2004/05

• Engaged and paid a modest honorarium to 40 000
  unemployed women who are heads of households
• Contracted 316 SMMEs who are resident in
  communities where we are feeding
• 98,5 of budget spent by end of March.

6
Key focus for 2005/06

• Strengthened monitoring and a quality service
  that is properly targeted
• Sustainable Food Production in schools
• Stimulation of local economy
• Job Creation

7
Strengthened monitoring

• Monitoring visits by provinces officials
  stipulated and within guiding framework
  complimented by adhoc visits by DoE
• Provincial monitoring focuses on quality of
  service including adherence to menus, food
  preparation and food handling
• DoE focuses on the above as well as management of
  finances.

8
Sustainable Food Production

• Major drive to ensure operational
  school/community gardens in all schools where
  feeding happening
• Capacity established both in the DoE and in the 9
  provinces to assist schools.
• 2803 new gardens established in the 9 provinces
• Target to increase these by an additional 2 000
  in current f/y

9
Sustainable Food Production

• Collaboration primarily with Departments of
  Agriculture and Health hugely beneficial to
  project
• In KZN, DoA assisting in the training of school
  communities in productive gardening. Benefit
  spilled over to local communities who have
  established own gardens.

10
Sustainable Food Production

• In Mpumalanga partnership with DoH resulted in
  irrigation systems being set up in 37 schools
• In NW the Agriculture Research Council providing
  seedlings for Fleshy Sweet Potato in targeted
  schools and providing assistance in planting
  them
• In NC, DWAF has donated fruit trees to schools
  and DoH a variety of vegetable seeds for schools
  and home use.

11
Stimulation of local economy

• In 5 provinces (FS, Gauteng, Limpopo, NC and NW)
  government prescription that local SMEs be
  preferred service providers
• North West narrowed this to parents with learners
  in a particular school feeding their children
• Both NW and NC prescribe number of schools to be
  serviced by any one provider, to curb monopolies

12
Stimulation of local economy

• In KZN local women already being trained as
  cooperatives that the programme can draw on
• To date 1 659 SMEs being utilised of the
  targeted 2 083 for the 2005/06 f/y

13
Job Creation(?)

• Systematic targeting of volunteer food handlers
  enabling DoE to create some job opportunities
• Target for 2005/06, 23 037 but already 26 612
  engaging in the programme
• Honorarium given to volunteers critical
  currently sits at a range of between R80 and R512
  p/m
• Intention of DoE to prescribe that honorarium to
  be no less than R400 p/m for a 4hr day

14
Key remaining challenges

• Refining targeting criteria to prioritise truly
  needy learners
• Shift to broader school nutrition programme to
  address not only issues of hunger but link to
  healthy life-styles
• Move to sustain feeding beyond school days for
  needy and orphaned children
• Increase community engagement and particularly
  parental involvement in all aspects of the
  programme.