Chefs serving food to school children at Mambilima Primary School in in Lusaka’s Matero township. Photo: Annie Zulu, bird story agency
Parents, teachers, and nutritionists say the Zambian government’s national school meals program has made a remarkable impact, simultaneously boosting children’s health and school attendance, while providing jobs, as more partners come in to support. The initiative is further expanding across the nation. At the heart of this success story, are the children.
By Annie Zulu, bird story agency
At 5:30 a.m. in Lusaka’s Matero township, 13-year-old Christine Zimba was already awake, putting on her school uniform in the dim morning light. Her mother, Judith Sichone, quietly swept around their home. There was no breakfast that morning, just a cup of warm water to fill the belly.
At 6:00 a.m., Christine slung her school bag over her shoulder, waved goodbye to her mother, and stepped into the streets of Matero. She walked for thirty minutes to Mambilima Primary School. When she arrived on campus, she was a bit tired and hungry; but she was happy. The smell of porridge drifted across the schoolyard. Christine smiled. For her, the porridge waiting for her was more than just food. It was sustenance and comfort. It gave her another reason to stay in school.
“Sometimes there’s no food at home, but when I come to school, I know I will eat. It helps me learn because I’m not hungry,” she said.
Christine, a soft-spoken Grade Seven pupil, loves reading and answering questions in class. She dreams of becoming a lawyer one day, to help people who cannot speak for themselves, she said. Her friend Craig Chigariro, 12, wants to be a surgeon. He said the school meals give him the energy he needs to pay attention in class. For both children, one simple plate of food has turned school into a place where they can truly build their futures.
At Mambilima Primary, no child learns on an empty stomach anymore. The school was recently added in the latest phase of the national Homegrown School Feeding Programme, as the Zambian government pushes to reach all 116 districts by 2026 under the scheme, which currently provides meals to over 4.6 million school children in 106 districts across the country. The school is also benefiting from a social welfare project of the Indian diamond company, Malabar Group, which began providing free meals at Mambilima in May 2025. The project, starting with an aim to give 10,000 meals daily to three Zambian schools, is supported by Zambia’s government and supplements the administration’s ongoing efforts to sustain child health.
The school feeding programme began in Zambia in 2011. It was designed to fight school absenteeism. The then-Minister of Education, John Phiri, and Minister of Agriculture, Robert Sichinga, were instrumental in pushing the policy forward.
Before, the country’s public schools did not consistently offer meals to students. Assistant director for school health and nutrition in Zambia’s Ministry of Education Maybin Luulu, told bird, “Before the programme, school attendance in some areas was only 65%. After we introduced the meals, attendance rose to more than 85%.”
He said the programme’s success is yielding more investments to expand it. “In 2024, the budget was K111.7 million ($USD 4,850,263). This year, it’s K534 million ($USD 23,333,701). By 2026, all 116 districts will benefit,” he told bird.
The headmaster of Mambilima School, Abel Tembo, says the results of the initiative are clear.
“Before this programme, many pupils stayed away from school. Some would run off during break because they were hungry. But now, they stay. Even attendance has improved and parents are grateful because they don’t have to worry about lunch money,” Tembo told bird.
The headmaster looked around the schoolyard where children sat under trees, finishing up their plates.
“This food has changed everything. It’s not just feeding them, it’s giving them hope,” he said.
At the rear end of the campus, smoke rose from large pots as Luckson Tembo and his team of cooks prepared meals for over 2,000 children.
“This programme is a blessing,” he said. “Not every child eats before coming to school. So, when we serve them and see them smiling, it warms our hearts.”
He paused to serve the children. “It’s not easy cooking for so many children, but it’s worth it. Their joy gives us energy.”
Luckson said the programme has also created jobs for young people like him. “We’ve learned teamwork, big-batch cooking, and how to care for the kids,” he added with a grin. “It’s more than just cooking, it’s serving a community.”
“Before the feeding programme, many children would doze off in class. Some would come crying from hunger, and others would run away at break time,” said Emeldah Chipalala. She has been a schoolteacher for fifteen years and said the change has been remarkable.
“They are alert, focused, and excited to learn…even discipline has improved. If we tell them, ‘If you misbehave, you won’t go to eat,’ they behave immediately!”
She laughed. “Food has become a teacher too.”
Back in Matero, Christine’s mother, Judith Sichone, acknowledged that the meals programme is providing something that she often finds hard to do.
“There were days I sent her to school without food, it used to break my heart,” she said. “But now, I’m at peace. I know she will eat. I know she will learn. This feeding programme is helping not just the children. It’s helping families like mine,” she told bird.
All around, the programme has been widely approved across the country. Lusaka-based nutritionist and programme officer for Zambia’s Civil Society Scaling Up, Majory Chilufya told bird, “It’s not just about being full, it’s about being healthy, alert and ready to learn. Feeding children properly is feeding the nation’s future.”
Back at Mambilima Primary, the lunch bell rang. Students joyfully burst into the schoolyard and lined up in front of the steaming pots. The meal of the day, spaghetti.
bird story agency