Prepare nutritious food, parents told

German Ambassador  Juergen Borsch has asked parents in Mzimba District to prepare nutritious meals for their children and to teach them ways of preparing the same.

Borsch made the call on Wednesday when he toured the Nutrition and Access to Primary Education (Nape) programme at Kamwamphimbi Primary School in Mzimba South.

“I would like parents to teach their children how to cook nutritious foods at an early stage. Cooking is not girl stuff, but it is fantastic and the children can come up with their rich recipe.

“I am proud of the comprehensive approach of the Nape Programme. While parents and teachers offer support, local institutions provide seeds and instruments and the donor community provides fertilisers and seeds,” he said.

The school, which started feeding learners in the last two weeks of the previous academic calendar, expects an increase in enrolment, according to the deputy district education manager (DEM) for Mzimba South Vincent Mudolo.

The school’s head teacher, Clecus Manda, thanked the project funders for supporting the school with maize, soya, groundnuts and beans.

He said the community also managed to produce beans and soya beans after growing the legumes in a community farm set aside for the programme.

The school is among 30 in Mzimba and 150 in seven districts under Nape programme which is being implemented by development partners, including German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation Development through Deutsche Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and European Union.

The project aims at empowering communities to grow legumes for the school feeding programmes. n