A short history of Feeding Futures

Feeding Futures began when Vanessa Bennett from the UK and Peterson Githinji, a Head Teacher of a Primary School met and became friends. The children at Peterson’s school near Molo in Nakuru County were struggling to stay awake for classes as their parents were unable to send them to school with a full belly and a full lunch bag. Some even fainted at school due to hunger. Peterson and Vanessa committed together to help these children and Feeding Futures was born. 

Initially, the focus was simply on feeding children but after two years we introduced agricultural training to parents in order to help them reach the point of being able to provide for their own children. Community engagement was challenging at this point, but many parents did take the opportunity. 

Many benefits to the children were reported. Enrolment, attendance and retention all increased significantly. The school, St Brendan’s Primary School in Molo, received an award for the most improved exam scores in the area, and the feeding programme was the talk of the district. Transition rates to secondary school improved and for the first time, former pupils started to be accepted into university.  

Feeding Futures then partnered with Mukinyai Primary School, providing a nutritious breakfast and lunch every school day. This time, it was agreed in advance with the Head Teacher, Board of Management and Assistant Chief that Feeding Futures was not coming as a donor but as a partner. The partnership involves Feeding Futures building infrastructure and starting the meals programme and parents would gradually take over responsibility for meals provision over a period of five years.  

Commitment to the work was needed by parents and the wider community. It was made clear that the partnership would end after five years so parents would need to work hard to take over the meals provision within that time. 

Feeding Futures provides agriculture training and mentoring to the community in addition to fencing, inputs and guidance for a school shamba. The school provides the labour for the shamba. This, along with increased yield and income parents achieve from improved agriculture and business basics enables them to take over the food programme.  

Many of the children would have had no lunch at all and for some, it is their only cooked meal of the day. The impact of the meals, supported by effective water harvesting has been huge. The community has come together and now provides the school meals independently from Feeding Futures. 

Feeding Futures is now working with its third school community – Sidai Primary School, Subukia. Progress is encouraging and parents are already providing the school with breakfast for their children. 

By combining meals for children at school with community training in sustainable agriculture, Feeding Futures works to improve the long-term prospects of disadvantaged, rural communities.