Maria Nkhoma, who lives in the southern Malawi district of Balaka, recalls a time she would miss classes because there wasn’t enough food at home. With no food, the 17-year-old who is now in secondary school would remain at home to take care of domestic chores as her parents went around in search of menial jobs to feed their five-member family.
"My parents were not harvesting enough food because our crops were usually affected by drought, and this meant I had to remain at home," she told Devex in an interview.
Though the number of children receiving school meals globally has increased, only 27% of children in sub-Saharan Africa access a school meal and this affects learning outcomes.
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About the author
Madalitso Wills KatetaMadatso_Kateta
Madalitso Wills Kateta is a Malawi-based Devex contributing reporter. He specializes in gender, human rights, climate change, politics, and global development reporting. He has written for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, The New Humanitarian, African Arguments, Equal Times, and others.
