28 November 2025

“School-Based Nutrition and Educational Interventions to Prevent and Address Child Hunger.

Honourable Members,

I rise today to speak on a matter fundamental to our nation’s future, the nourishment of our children through the National School Nutrition Programme and the comprehensive nutrition interventions that must accompany it.

The National School Nutrition Programme stands as one of government’s most successful interventions in breaking the cycle of poverty and inequality. Over 9 million learners across more than 20,000 schools receive daily meals through this programme. These are not merely statistics they represent children who arrive at school hungry, children whose ability to learn depends on whether they have eaten that day. Research confirms what we instinctively know, hungry children cannot learn effectively. The NSNP has demonstrated measurable impact on school attendance rates, with participating schools recording significant reductions in absenteeism. When children know they will receive a nutritious meal at school, they come to school. For many learners in impoverished communities, this school meal is their only reliable source of nutrition each day.

Honourable chairperson, beyond attendance, we observe improved academic performance among learners receiving consistent nutrition support. Cognitive function, concentration, and memory all essential for learning depend on adequate nutrition. Micronutrient deficiencies, particularly in iron, iodine, and vitamin A, directly impair cognitive development. When we feed children properly, we unlock their potential to learn, to grow, and to contribute to our nation’s development. However, Honourable Members, we must acknowledge that quantity alone does not guarantee quality. Our current challenge extends beyond providing meals to ensuring those meals contain the balanced macronutrients and essential micronutrients that growing children require. Too often, school meals consist primarily of carbohydrates with insufficient protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. We must improve the nutritional content of school meals through better menu planning, diverse food sources, and fortification strategies that address the specific micronutrient deficiencies prevalent in our child population.

Furthermore, nutrition support must follow a seamless continuum from early childhood development facilities through the school years. I commend the increase in subsidy from R17 to R24 per child per day a significant step toward ensuring adequate nutrition support. This increase enables procurement of more nutritious ingredients and better meal preparation. However, we must ensure this subsidy reaches ECD facilities effectively and that the transition from ECD to primary school maintains consistent nutrition support without gaps that could compromise children’s development.

Honourable members, education itself must become our ally in this fight against malnutrition. We cannot simply feed children we must teach them about nutrition, equipping them with knowledge they will carry throughout their lives. I propose strengthening our nutrition education curriculum through age appropriate content integrated across subjects. Young learners should understand basic food groups and healthy choices. Older learners should learn meal planning, food preparation, and nutrition literacy that empowers them to make informed decisions about their health.

This curriculum integration requires educators equipped to deliver nutrition education effectively. Therefore, we must prioritize teacher training programmes that enable educators to understand nutrition’s role in child development and learning. Teachers are on the frontlines they observe children daily and can identify early warning signs of malnutrition. Through proper training, educators can recognize stunted growth, micronutrient deficiency symptoms, and behavioural changes associated with hunger or malnutrition, making appropriate referrals to health services promptly. Complementing education with action, systematic growth monitoring in schools provides essential data for early intervention. Regular weight and height measurements tracked over time reveal growth patterns and identify at-risk learners before malnutrition becomes severe. Such monitoring systems, integrated with school health services, enable targeted interventions for vulnerable children and provide valuable epidemiological data for policy refinement.

Honourable Chairperson, educational food gardens represent an innovative intersection of nutrition, education, and sustainability. These gardens provide fresh vegetables and fruits for school meals while creating living classrooms where learners gain practical knowledge about food production, agricultural science, and environmental stewardship. Gardens teach children where food comes from, how to grow it, and why fresh produce matters for health. In the process, schools reduce meal costs while improving nutritional quality a sustainable solution particularly valuable in rural communities. Yet no school-based intervention succeeds in isolation. Parents and caregivers remain children’s primary nutritional gatekeepers. We must strengthen parent engagement through nutrition education programmes that teach meal planning on limited budgets, food preparation that preserves nutrients, and recognition of malnutrition signs in children. Schools should serve as hubs connecting families to social support services including social grants, food security programmes, and health services. When we educate and empower parents, we extend nutrition intervention beyond school hours and into homes where lasting habits form.

Honourable Members, these interventions form an integrated system. Nutritious school meals attract learners to school. Nutrition education equips them with knowledge. Trained teachers identify problems early. Growth monitoring tracks progress. Food gardens provide fresh produce and learning opportunities. Parent engagement extends impact beyond school gates. Together, these elements create an environment where every child could grow, learn, and thrive. This is not merely about feeding children it is about investing in human capital, breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty, and building the healthy, educated workforce our nation needs. Every rand spent on child nutrition generates multiple returns through improved educational outcomes, better health, and increased productivity.

Honourable Chairperson, our children deserve nothing less than our full commitment to their health, their education, and their future.

Amandla!