• By Victor Wasike & Aurillia Manjella
• Posted 05/17/2016

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African leafy vegetables in Mundika kill three birds with one stone

The 410 resident students from St. Mary’s High School in Mundika, in Western Kenya, may soon have a welcome surprise as they find their school meals start including local vegetables like cowpea (kunde), amaranth (dodo) and slender leaf (miroo). The introduction of these highly nutritious local crops in the school menu will help achieve three important goals: (1) diversify and improve the quality of student diets; (2) revive interest in local food culture; and (3) contribute to supporting a farmer group from nearby Namalenga.

Unreliable supplies and higher market prices for local crops means that student meals are often repetitive and nutrient-poor. Finger millet for instance, which is more nutritious and a good starchy alternative to maize, is sold at double the market price of maize (0.25 $/kg) and schools are often unable to afford it. The same is true for kale (sukuma wiki, literally meaning ‘push the week’), which is found in wide supply and is cheaper than its local alternatives. Year-round availability (especially in the dry season) and ease of preparation are additional factors that hinder the commercialization of local nutritious vegetables.

This means that a typical school menu will be limited to maize porridge in the morning (uji), a traditional Kenyan mix of boiled maize and beans (githeri) at noon, and a starchy, maize meal side dish (ugali) with kale or rice and beans at dinner. Eaten day in and day out, this dietary regime is unable to supply the optimal and wide range of nutrients needed for growing minds and bodies.

Thanks to an enterprising farmer group in Namalenga and an open-minded school board, an innovative partnership was established that could provide a win-win situation for all. The Namalenga Farmers’ Group will grow nutritious crops directly on abandoned agricultural land owned by St. Mary’s High School. The school will then purchase the produce directly from the farmers, who will cut their transport costs and have a reliable and constant buyer for their produce. This is probably the first time such an approach has been tried and tested in Kenya.

Objections by the school board and caterers to the introduction of ALVs in school meals are largely linked to yield after cooking, since kale (cheaper than ALVs) stretches further in terms of quantity than local vegetables, which cook down significantly. This may force the school to review its budget and if needed, increase its school fees, which might not be well-received by parents. That said, the agriculture teacher, Mr. Oguba, has ensured the Board that “a spoonful of local vegetables has more nutrients than a spoonful of kale and can be consumed with a bigger portion of ugali”.

As a test run, farmers will initially produce sufficient amounts to feed a select number of schoolchildren with special dietary needs, particularly those suffering from food allergies and ulcers. If successful, efforts will be scaled-up to provide enough food for the remaining students. Finger millet will be used for porridge preparation and guavas and gooseberries will be planted for fruit. “There is nothing more important than seeing my boys fed on a nutritious and balanced diet”, says Mr. Obonyo, the school principle. “This will not only improve their health but also increase their academic performance and reduce absenteeism due to sickness and diet-related illnesses”.

Students will also learn from the farmers about different sustainable agricultural practices and have hands-on experience in growing and using local crops. While nutrition education might initially be introduced through the revival of Agricultural School Clubs (4KClubs), it is hoped that in the near future courses bridging the gap between agriculture and nutrition might be featured in the school curriculum.
This pilot study may help prove that healthy and balanced diets need not be expensive and that they can be easily introduced in school feeding programmes at little or no additional cost.

This activity was made possible thanks to support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)