Kenya to add 2.4 mln children into school feeding program

NAIROBI, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President William Ruto said Tuesday his government will increase the number of children benefiting from the school feeding program to 4 million from the current 1.6 million.

Ruto, who launched the Nairobi County school feeding program in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, said 35.67 million U.S. dollars will be used to implement the school feeding program.

"We must eliminate the shame of hunger in our country. We will be deliberate and focused in ensuring successful implementation of the school feeding program," he said.

Kenya officially took over the school feeding program from the World Food Programme (WFP) in October 2018 and has been providing lunches to 1.6 million school children in arid and semi-arid areas of the country.

The government says the closure of schools due to a lack of food and water has disrupted learning in the drought-affected counties, leading to an increase in early marriages and pregnancies among girls, child labor and forced migration of civilians.

Ezekiel Machogu, the cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Education, said his ministry will work closely with other stakeholders in ensuring the successful implementation of the school feeding program.