The County Government of Machakos is motivating class attendance through the County ECDE feeding program dabbed “Chakula Tumboni, Masomo Kichwani”. This initiative is supporting over 1,160 public ECDE centres across all the nine sub-counties and feeding over 35,000 school children. The Ksh 30 million “Chakula Tumboni, Masomo Kichwani” initiative is cushioning parents who cannot afford three meals a day by providing tea break porridge and lunch for school children in all ECDE public schools at the County. The school children are served with hot lunch; rice and beans every day of the week from Monday to Friday. Drought and lack of food in the country have led to an increase in school dropouts and malnutrition cases in all Counties. To curb this, the County Government is not only providing food for the ECDE pupils but also in collaboration with the County Public Health Department sensitizing parents on the need to provide a balanced diet for improved brain functions in school.
Machakos County Assembly has passed the ECDE Feeding Policy which will ensure funds are allocated to the feeding program. Currently, though the County is supporting the initiative with the available education funds, collaborations with local communities who donate food after a bumper harvest are encouraged. Through the “Adopt a Centre Strategy” which calls upon local churches and organizations to support an identified ECDE centre by providing food for the school children, the County is able to have an alternative means of feeding the children. The ‘‘Adopt a Centre Strategy’’ is one designed to bring the efforts of the community, the County Government, and partners to support the feeding initiative. The County has spent Ksh 30 million on the ECDE feeding program across schools in all 40 wards.