PROJECT PROPOSAL

FOR SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMME
(SOLOMON PROJECT)

PROPOSAL DONE BY:
MIRECO COMMUNITY BASED DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION

ABSTRACT
Ever went to school or work with an empty stomach? Then surely you can remember the difficulties you can have in trying to concentrate on the tasks given to you. Your attention gets drawn to that empty feeling inside your body, the cry for food. The above mentioned scenario is just a nightmare for others. But to others it is not an incidental thing but occurring day after day. Who can stand there and see it happen and still do nothing.., just standing there and let those things happen without feeling pity for those people? This is what happens in some schoolsin Kenya. Quite a number of the children come to school with little or no food for breakfast, just chewing some bush fruits, if they found any on the way to school. Getting in class with an empty stomach surely is not the right start for a day at school; concentration is lacking, attention is drawn to that gnawing feeling inside. These children don’t have the energy for sports; fall sick more often as their resistance is undermined by under-nourishment and drop out more easily from school.
What would you do if you saw it happening? Would you just be the bystander or the one that would take action? Surely it is impossible to help the whole world but this doesn’t mean that we don’t have the obligation to help, even with just the little bits we can share. That is why our organization (Mireco Development Organization) has the plan to incorporate a school feeding programme in Migori Primary School, Migori Town in Migori County. This is after we saw the constraints caused by the post election violence that left more people homeless and less fortunate. We want to give every child in Migori Primary school, breakfast and lunch, every school day.., throughout the year. It doesn’t have to be a big meal with lots of varieties every day; it has to be a nutritious and healthy meal with all the basic elements in it.

Area of Study
The area targeted is the slums of Migori Town and Migori Primary School, in Migori County, Nyanza Province, Kenya. Migori Town is between Awendo and Sirare, around 500 kilometers from the border of Kenya and Tanzania.
The people in the area were affected greatly by the post election violence reducing their living standards to very lower levels. It is now crowded by the less fortunate who make their living by hawking. Most people in the area don’t have a job, they depend on the little they get from their hawking job which is not enough to supply the family to the best. Introduction of Free Primary Education (FPE), made it a chance to the less fortunate to join the school being that there is no much fee paid; this has made the school mostly crowded by the less fortunate children.

Abbreviations
SFP – School Feeding Programme
FPE – Free Primary Education
MDO – Mireco Development Organization
KDHS – Kenya Demographic Health Survey

INTRODUCTION
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that Kenya’s Post Election Violence left at least 100,000 children being forced to flee their homes due to the wave of violence that swept through Kenya following disputed elections. UNICEF said that as many as 75,000 children are now residing in over 100 camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), while many thousands more children are believed to be living temporarily with other family members. This makes the children to boycott school programmes hence school drop outs. By leaving their homes also affects their school as they are not able to go to school.
Migori Town is one of the is on of the greatly affected towns by the violence in Nyanza. A great number of parents left their homes as they were demolished and their shops and property looted by the angry unknowns. This has caused school drop out among pupils who are now less fortunate because they go to the streets to help look for something to put on the table either for their young ones or disabled parents. In this act female school children of about 14-15 years of age get pregnant unknowingly while looking for money or food to survive. To some hunger comes too much bringing ill health and gradually causes death. Teachers in Migori primary are now facing tough times as there are few children to attend to in classes of as low as 3 pupils in a class. All the children going toschool are hurting as they go without food.Lack of concentration in class is therefore propelled, school drop outs being among the problems. Migori slums have about 1000 less fortunate children attending Migori primary school. This is after the introduction of Free Primary Education (FPE) was launched which made the less fortunate the opportunity to get into class again. But quite a number do not go to school due to luck of food. By incorporating SOLOM Project to help in the feeding programme we have confidence to curb a good percentage of the problems caused by post election violence in Migori Slums. Also working closely with pupils to know their weaknesses will help develop strategies to solve the problems.School feeding programs can thus be a powerful instrument for achieving many multi-sectoral benefits – education, gender equality, food security, poverty reduction, nutrition and health, and agricultural development. The recent food, fuel and financial crises have highlighted the importance of school feeding programs both as a social safety net for children living in poverty and food insecurity, and as a tool for stimulating local agricultural production and economic opportunities among the less fortunate and community at large. Being that Migori primary school has already started the school feeding programme, it is therefore has a baseline to improving the feeding programme further to feed more less fortunate children.
Before the post election violence, the population of Migori slums was registered to be 10,000 people out of the 200, 450 people in the Migori County at large. After the violence, the population has been gradually increasing in the slums due to teenage girls getting unwanted pregnancies leading to school dropouts. Today the analysis done by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) during the general election shows that the total population in Migori County is 287,702 people. Migori slums having the highest increase in population from 10,000 to 25,000 people; This terrible increase has caused a lot of food shortage in the slums of Migori. Therefore as mention that there was introduction of FPE, many of the less fortunate resolved to join Migori primary school. About 90% of the people live below the poverty threshold and are barely surviving on a dollar a day. Like other slum dwellers across the country and around the world, the residents are forced to contend with highly compromised living conditions including poor sanitation and sewerage systems, drug abuse, and high rates of unemployment, social amenities, and poor housing among other challenges. This has a definite direct impact on children especially aged below five years. Effects include ever-increasing child mortality, poor maternal health, and a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS infections. The high poverty levels have translated to inability of some households to adequately fend for their families including providing enough balanced meals. Children below the age of five years are the most affected with the majority of them suffering from malnutrition-related ailments like kwashiorkor. Child mortality is on the increase due to inadequate diets. Those older than five years i.e. 9 to about 18 of school are forced to search for food outside their homes and in dustbins, and often end up living on the streets. Some resort to working for food and hence are unable to continue with school because the need for food supersedes the need for education. Kenya, a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) strives to eradicate hunger and poverty by the year 2015. This school feeding program has been found to be essential as a motivator for school attendance and as a key long term driver to the survival, promotion and education of children.
Problem Statement
Various effects has been caused by the post election violence in Migori slums like school dropouts, child abuse by those who take advantage of young girls and child labour, absenteeism from school due to lack of food. These consequences are dangerous but the involvement of school feeding program (by SOLOMON PROJECT) will go hand in hand with our vision of promoting education to the less fortunate children in the Migori slums. As food is provided to the children, problems like school drop outs, absenteeism, ill health, child labour and abuse are greatly reduced. The success of feeding programme which has been started by Migori Primary school needs just a boost from Mireco with the incorporation from Solomon Project.

Purpose of the Programme
The purpose of the programme is to look for the benefits of school feeding programme to the less fortunate children after the post election violence, in Migori Primary, Migori Slums, Migori County, South Nyanza Province, Kenya.
Objectives
The life of an orphan or less fortunate child or parent has many elements that need attention. Aspects of health, education and human life circumstances have a high priority. Unluckily with the limited means of the foundation, it is impossible for us to focus on all these elements at this moment. We had to make choices. The choices we made were based on improving the feeding and health of the less fortunate children affected by the Post Election Violence (2007-2008) within the limited possibilities to improve their education too.
Therefore our objectives are defined as: 1. To eradicate lack of concentration in class among the less fortunate children 2. To curb the issue of school dropouts 3. Increase their level of education 4. Increase good relation between the children at school.
Our goal is to be able to give the support, up to the moment that the school is able to pay those costs itself by developing ways to do so with the help from the Mireco Development Organization.
Rationale (Significance of the study)
The identification and knowledge of the school feeding programme will enhance the Kenyan education sector. The implementation of this programme will also be an attempt to contribute good interpersonal skills and its limitations notwithstanding. This proposal is significant for several reasons. First, it will provide an understanding of the relationships that exist between education inputs and achievements levels in relation to school feeding programme. Secondly, the study will show the appropriateness of the school feeding programme. Some inputs seem to be brought into schools without the benefit of prior testing or verification. It is also hoped that this proposal will give a clear picture of the achievement levels gained after the implementation of SFP.
Scope of the Study
The proposal will be confined to Migori primary school and Migori Slums in Migori County. It will focus on the school feeding programme. The proposal targets less fortunate pupils, teachers, and parents of the less fortunate children in the selected school (Migori Primary).
Limitations of the Study i) The proposal will limit itself to only Migori primary school in Migori County. ii) The proposal will focus on the benefits of school feeding programme to the less fortunate children.

Implementation of the Plan
The proposed feeding program involves providing the 1,400 children with breakfast at 10:00 am and lunch at 1:00 pm for five days a week. Children participate in Monday through Friday school program. The Mireco Development Organization Group Director will work closely with the Solomon Project staff to ensure that the implementation of this activity is in line with this proposal. In line with the laid down tendering policy, they will identify suppliers of food and plan for all the logistics. The children will be given nutritious foods and in adequate quantities to maintain their good health. Proper storage of food and updating of store inventory are done on a daily basis. The partners will hire cooks and ensure that they meet the ministry of public health regulations on handling of foods.
Evaluating the effectiveness of a food of education program is challenging when considering the various factors that impact a child. As the objectives state, there will be to continued improvement upon the framework so that the overall quality of the school increases and that we are able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the feeding programme on education.

Theoretical Framework

The relationships status between school feeding programme and the effects is wider because of the correlative nature of research, lack of theory and flaws in conceptualizations. Methods employed in research have a bearing on how much we can judge school performance and policy concerns to the school feeding programme. Judgements about school performance and relative effectiveness of school feeding programme (SFP) require careful analyses. For example school effectiveness need to be specific as to what outcomes we are searching for. So school growth may be seen as being relative to out comes. Therefore cause – effect relationships need adequate control of other factors, a choice of a given range of outcomes, careful sampling and recognition of the processes that are involved. This proposal intends to explore some of these through both quantitative and qualitative analyses.
In an effort to upgrade the quality of education Mireco Development Group has resolved to partner with the Solomon Project. Fourteen teachers are participating in a comprehensive program where they are learning improved teaching methodologies, leadership skills, problem solving techniques, networking and collaborating with others, and skills to improve school standards and also assisting in the school feeding programme.

Review of literature
School Feeding Programme (SFP)
According to the Policy on Educational Research for Ministry of Education (MoE), the Government recognizes that research is an important tool for organizational learning. MoE recognizes that research findings enable it to frame policies and develop programmes based on reliable and valid information. As such the MoE is interested in research that is directed at identifying critical issues in the sector. Essentially, MoE regards Education Management Information System (EMIS), monitoring and evaluation of programs and basic or development research as the main sources of information for planning and development purposes. It has also found in the Research that implementation of School Feeding Programme is one of the Key issues that greatly affect education sector.

Past Research (Pre-Election Factors)
Poor households are unable to access basic services like food, education and health. Indeed, their ability to support and invest in their children education is very limited. A girl-child or boy-child in such a household has disadvantages. It was clear that where resources are scarce and the school demands for expenditures from a household are limited to be taken to school. In some cases, girls as young as 11 years are forced into early marriages so that parents can get dowry – extra income, in other cases the girls and boys become househelps. In other instances boys are forced to get into the boda boda or cycling business or become Shamba boys as expounded below. Child Labor
Child labor is one of the key factors hindering children from attending school. It was reported that often the labor the children as their parents involve them in small-scale business, caring the sick or accompanying the mother for a community service like attending a relative’s funeral. This causes school dropout of the child and less education too. When children do engage in paid employment it is in the gender role stereotypical work of being housemaids and houseboys. This phenomenon was reported to affect most schools as it now affects Migori Primary school, Migori County. Boys also tend to go for the common “boda boda” or cycling business and once they start earning they want to work for longer hours.

Negative parental perceptions and attitudes towards schooling
Parents’ perceptions and society expectation, part of gendered sex role socialization affect how girls and boys participate in education. Some parents value boys than girls and vice-versa. This causes disparity to the children don’t feel to go to school.

Peer pressure and truancy.
Both girls and boys were reported as staying out of school due to getting into ‘bad ways’. Many
Respondents indicated that children did not go to or finish school due to what they called “bad behaviour” which in the case of girls takes them to towns where they “visit bars, watch video and disco”’.In some cases girls were reported as bending to peer pressure. The outcome is always pregnancy and thus dropout from school.

Adolescence and Teenage Pregnancy
Dealing with the changes brought by adolescence remains a major challenge for most pupils and teachers alike. Cases of increased teenage and early pregnancy were reported with this being among the leading cause of drop outs among the girls. For the boys, they often also drop out after impregnating a girl for fear of taking responsibility.

Sexual harassment and abuse by Boys
The respondents, pupils in particular, reported that the school is a very child unfriendly environment. Abuse and sexual harassment of the girls is common. Girls are often abused, beaten and humiliated. There were also cases of pregnancy reported in schools. Boys were said to “stare at girls and make them uncomfortable”, they are always talking and thinking about girls. Few cases of strangers wanting “to make love” with girls were also reported by the pupils. This act causes the unwanted pregnancies to girls and always affects the less fortunate because they are often not protected and they are also looking for a survival.

Present Research (Post Election Factors)
Insecurity (and distance from school)
Insecurity and distance from school are ‘twin’ factors, which were cited by both teachers and pupils as inhibiting their children participation in school Migori Primary. Some children follow bad corners as they return to their homes and when they leave to school, these children may be attacked by the strangers and raped especially girls. Teachers and children in both urban and periurban areas indicated that distance from school coupled with insecurity in their regions made them hesitate to go to school. This was because the post election violence made the school a key target for the hooligans and protesters alike. The bitter youths chanted slogans such as “No Raila, No school” and in some cases stormed schools and threw children out and teachers out. The school represents the government to these youths and therefore the easiest target for them.
Distance and insecurity in many schools visited erodes parents’ confidence in sending their children to school. All schools were closed in January until the politicians declared them open and even then, the teachers and pupils were on various occasions forced out of the schools when the political climate became tense and riots were exhibited. Most parents delayed the bringing the their children’s enrolment to school until after the signing of the National Accord in late February whereas some brought them in late March and even early April – these were those parents who had relocated from town/urban centres to their rural homes despite being of the same ethnic community.
Because of the lack of political stability, some parents pull the children out of school when they sense that insecurity is becoming acute.

Food Insecurity
The respondents, pupils in particular, reported that the school should work on providing the lunch programme. Because of the challenges of the post election violence, most of the parents/guardians can no longer contribute towards existing food programmes or generally provide for their children lunch. This is affecting the participation of children in school because they survive on one meal (dinner) a day which is also not very efficient as it is not enough and they don’t get satisfied. In some schools, the Internally Displaced Children living with a relative seem not able to adjust to this situation and the head teacher of the school is sometimes forced to use personal resources to provide for the younger ones a meal, but this is not sustainable. This drew our attention to incorporating the feeding programme to Migori slums especially in Migori Primary where the dominance of less fortunate children after the election is higher. With the collaboration of Solomon Project group, provision of feeding programme we are certain of positive effects to curb the emerging issue as stated in the objectives.

Proposal Findings
Enrolment before and After Election 2007
Data availed from Migori Primary school was used to calculate the trends in enrolment over a three year period. There was a consistent enrolment by gender in the primary school sub-sector. Within the primary school, a near gender balance over the last three years has been reached with an average increase in the number of girls being recorded. Year | Boys | Girls | Total | Percentage | 2005 | 352 | 250 | 602 | 27.2% | 2006 | 395 | 320 | 715 | 32.3% | 2007 | 446 | 466 | 892 | 40.3% | Source: Survey in Migori Primary school.
In the table, the trend shows that the enrolment of children in Migori Primary has consistently grown from 27.2% in 2005 to 32.3% in 2006 and 40.3% in 2007.
However after the Post election violence of 2007 – 2008, the there was some effects in the enrolment as shown below for the years between 2010 – 2012

Year | Boys | Girls | Total | Percentage | 2010 | 320 | 150 | 470 | 37.2% | 2011 | 380 | 370 | 750 | 45.3% | 2012 | 312 | 400 | 712 | 41.3% |

Form the table we realize there is a fluctuation in the school attendance in Migori Primary due to the effect of post election violence. Therefore poverty being one of the major causes of being less fortunate, introduction of free primary education has given a hand in the return of pupils to class. With the incorporation of School Feeding Programme, there is no doubt that a change has to occur in the education progress of the less fortunate children in the school.

ADMNISTRATION & FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Solomon Project Staffs will coordinate and oversee the overall implementation of the feeding program. Given that the Migori Primary School already has an existing kitchen for cooking, infrastructure and process, Mireco Development Organization will seek to maintain the quality standard and make incremental improvements to the program. Solomon Project will employ its own local staff person (called the Partner Developer) to ensure the quality of the program and that proper accountability takes place. Regularly, Solomon Project will send corporate staff to evaluate and assess the feeding program.
Solomon wires funds to the Mireco Development Organization bank account per an agreed quarterly schedule. The Partner Developer will initiate and implement the activity with the support of Mireco Development Organization Director; he will keep a clear set of accounting procedures and documentation of the feeding program, and provides quarterly reports on a quantitative and qualitative basis. Mireco Development Organization itself will have audited annual financial reports. They will create a food container for the foods from agents.
Problem Solution 1. Lack of concentration in the class
Concentration is way more important for a child, than all the designer clothes and toys are bought for them. Placing an enormous importance and value on working hard at helping the children develop this life-giving gift and, in so doing, make life and school so much easier for them, creating peaceful atmosphere for them is a very vital fact for their improvement. As explained in the abstract, working or sitting in class with an empty stomach, can lead to danger of your understanding hence so many mistakes. When the children are fed well enough, their thoughts are settle and stable to concentrate in whatever they are being taught or told. With the help of Solomon Project, Mireco Development Organization wishes to eradicate this by implementing and incorporating School Feeding Programme to Migori Primary School.

2. School Dropouts
Drop out is often a process rather than the result of one single event, and therefore has more than one proximate cause says (Hunt, 2008). Despite attempts to grant every Kenyan child basic education, many children still drop out of school due to factors such as poverty. In this age and era, a child dropping out of school is a serious disservice not only to the child but the society. After being left with nothing to lay an hand on, most parents resolve their children to child labour, handling of small business, going to their farms, forced marriages and some even forced into illegal and dirty business like prostitutions. All these cause the dropout of children from school. Movements from their schools due to political conflicts also boost this as the children tend leave their schools and to find another school is not yielding as they are referred to as IDPs. According to the latest Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS), 40 percent of adolescent girls without any education are either pregnant or have already become mothers.
This proposal has realization that implementation of School Feeding Programme as stated by the ministry of Education, has greater effect on the education success of the children. Therefore Mireco Development organization has resolved to link up with Solomon Project to implement the SFP to curb this problem.

3. Good Interrelation between the Children
Bringing together the less fortunate from different backgrounds is also a challenging agent that affects the pupils as they come from different backgrounds. This happens after the government introduced free primary education. When the children are put together in one pool to eat together, they tend to get used to each other and even share their problems. By this they get to know each other more and as brother and sister. Introduction of the SFP with boost this aspect and gradually improve the education standards of the children as they help each other in solving class work and even personal problems. Mireco Development Organization with the inclusion of Solomon Project hopes to support the School Feeding Programme to help the less fortunate children in Migori Primary School to achieve their educational goals just like the other able students.

Proposal Budget
The proposal budget by the Mireco Development Organization is as shown below. It targeted the less fortunate kids in Migori Primary School per day. Class | Number of children | Type of Feeding | Total Amount Per Month | | | Breakfast | Lunch | | Class one | 112 | 50.00 | 70.00 | 2,000.00 | Class two | 100 | 50.00 | 70.00 | 2,000.00 | Class three | 150 | 70.00 | 90.00 | 2500.00 | Class four | 110 | 70.00 | 90.00 | 2500.00 | Class five | 115 | 70.00 | 90.00 | 2500.00 | Class six | 122 | 90.00 | 120.00 | 3000.00 | Class seven | 112 | 90.00 | 120.00 | 3000.00 | Class eight | 100 | 90.00 | 120.00 | 3000.00 | | | | | | TOTAL | 921 | 580.00 | 770.00 | 20,500.00 |

CONCLUSION
Food for School Feeding programmes are one type of intervention used by policy makers and non-governmental organizations as a social safety net in developing nations to aid in several policy areas. These programs are believed to be effective because of the ability of the interventions to target a specific population that is vulnerable – school-aged children. There are various modalities in which these interventions are utilized to attain impactful outcomes on students and their families. This systematic proposal looked at the role of School Feeding Programme for Education programs in achieving good outcomes.
The interventions studied by the papers included in this Proposal show that SFP for Education programmes conclusively impact the health and nutrition of targeted children as measured by some indicators. For example, the programmes have been shown to increase the intake of students, and given to students in school meals “stick” to the targeted students. The studies suggest that households do not significantly reallocate food within the family; thus, the children are able to benefit fully from the nutrients provided through school meals. This leads to increased levels of many vital micronutrients in diets, such as vitamin A, iron, and iodine, for which these targeted populations are often deficient. Secondly, the SFP have shown to help decrease the rates of School dropouts, lack of concentration in class and illness among children participating in such programs. This we hope will take effect for the MDO.
Evidence from the studies reviewed suggests modest and mixed results for health outcomes as measured by anthropometric indicators. Rations showed the strongest evidence of the impact of SFP interventions for decreasing in dropouts, unwanted pregnancies and underweight rates due to malnutrition, showed significant impacts on these outcomes. One possible explanation for this inconclusive result is that studies that evaluated outcomes for SFP lasted on average 12 months.
The impact of SFP on cognitive skills and abilities of children is uncertain from the studies included in this systematic review. While the results are not conclusive in terms of improving cognitive skills, the SFP do aid in the education and thus the long-term economic development of participants by getting children into school that would otherwise not be enrolled. My conclusions verify some of the findings of other recent reviews and meta-analyses while disagreeing with others. The reviews by Jomaa et al. (2011) and Bundy (2009) are in agreement that SFP improve rates of enrollment and attendance, as well as impacting the overall health and nutrition of school children. However, the meta-analysis by Kristjansson et al. (2007) and review by Jomaa et al. (2011), which both looked solely at SFP, are not in such agreement over the effectiveness of these programs for impacting schoolchildren’s anthropometric and cognitive outcomes. These two papers find differing impacts from my own on the abilities of these programs to affect concentration and interpersonal skills. Additionally, Kristjansson et al. (2007) finds a small impact of these programs on weight gain but mixed results for height, while Jomaa et al. (2011) and I concur that there are mixed results for both weight and height.
To cover it all, this proposal has all the solution to keep out the problems facing the less fortunate children in the Migori slums in Migori County. We recommend Solomon Project for the effect of this proposal to act in the selected school (Migori Primary).