Addis Ababa, March 1, 2023 (FBC) – The 8th Africa Day of School Feeding (ADSF) is being celebrated in Addis Ababa, African Union Headquarters Conference Hall.
The 8th ADSF is being celebrated from February 27 to March 1, 2023 under the tune of “Boosting Local Food Procurement Systems and Regional Value Chains: The role of AfCFTA for Sustained Home-grown School Feeding Programmes and Improved Learning”.
Bringing together dignitaries from various African countries, the event is believed to be an indicator of the path to strengthen home-grown school feeding in Africa.
At the event, it was also indicated that African countries should play a role in ensuring home-grown school feeding and the use of the African Free Trade Area.
34 African countries are reportedly working on home-grown school feeding system in primary schools.
The event is being attended by Ethiopia’s Minister of Education, Prof Berhanu Nega and Addis Ababa Mayor, Adanech Abiebie, representatives of African countries, diplomats, UN and World Food Program.
This year’s ADSF theme, “Aligning with the tune of the year 2023 of AU: “Acceleration of AfCFTA Implementation”, categorically states that school feeding is an investment, not mere spending of national resources. It buttresses the fact that school feeding has short, medium- and long-term dividends to our children, and income to local communities who produce and trade in the food systems. A dollar spent on school feeding is likely to generate more dollars”, says AU’s statement.
The event is expected to galvanize actions for speed and scale in transforming school meal programs in Africa to tackle the multiple crises and ensure that they are effective, efficient, and equitable through enhanced supply chains and procurement systems.
It is also believed that the conference will enable to take stock of the progress of ongoing initiatives at the continental, regional, and at national levels in implementing homegrown school feeding and encouraging national commitments towards the scale-up and quality improvement of school feeding programmes.
According to the statement, the event will also help to share knowledge of the immediate and potential dividends of homegrown school feeding as a result of shared experiences and research products.
It is also said to be a platform to agree on priority actions to strengthen Home Grown School Feeding in Africa by effectively implementing the ACFTA, for consideration by the meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science, and Technology.