13,000 Pupils In Marsabit To Benefit From Sh12.8 Million Emergency School Feeding Programme
The Lake Turkana Wind Power Company (LTWP) is contributing Sh 12.8 million to a two-month emergency school feeding program for students in public primary schools in Marsabit County’s Laisamis constituency.
The program will provide a meal per day to 13,000 primary school students in 60 primary schools across the constituency that has been hard hit by prolonged drought, allowing them to complete the remainder of the 2021/2022 academic year.
LTWP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Phylip Leferink stated during the launch of the emergency intervention in the Loiyangalani area that the gesture was in response to the government’s declaration of the drought situation as a national disaster.
Referink went on to say that the program was also part of the company’s ongoing support and empowerment of the local pastoralist communities, which had played a significant role in the wind power project’s success.
The CEO noted that the constituency had experienced rain failure for two consecutive rainy seasons, a situation exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in rapidly rising humanitarian needs in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) County.
According to Referink, livestock was the sole source of the residents’ livelihood, and it was no longer producing or earning any income, making it difficult for schools to secure food to feed children.
“That is why we have found it appropriate to make this intervention at this time,” he said adding “We will provide sufficient food to feed each primary school pupil daily in all the sixty primary schools located in Laisamis constituency.”
Families in the region were constantly migrating in search of water and pasture, causing many children to drop out of school, making the program critical and timely for the continuity of the students’ education.
The food consignment, which includes 134.3 tons of maize, 35.9 tons of beans, 4,400 litres of cooking oil, and 1,130 kilograms of salt, is expected to last two months, according to LTWP community liaison manager Job Lengoiyap.
Mr Lengoiyap went on to say that the clean energy producer’s drought assistance program began with the distribution of water to communities near the wind farm.
He stated that they concentrated on primary schools, where the majority of children are vulnerable, with many being malnourished or stunted due to a lack of access to nutritious food.
In a message delivered by Loiyangalani DCC Steven Mavana, Marsabit County Commissioner Mr Paul Rotich described the response as compassionate and urged more organizations to join forces to help those affected by the drought.
Rotich stated that natural disasters caused by climate change necessitated a collaborative approach and that LTWP’s initiative would go a long way toward increasing local resilience.
County Director of Education Apollo Apuko stated that schools are the backbone for the good future of communities affected by adverse weather conditions, and he urged NGOs, corporations, and well-wishers in society to join the effort to alleviate the ongoing food insecurity affecting communities.
The LTWP is one of the world’s largest wind power projects, producing 310 megawatts of electricity and accounting for 17% of the country’s total energy supply.
Through its Winds of Change Foundation (WoC), the company also works on long-term community development projects in the areas where it operates.
Under WoC, the wind company has funded and supervised 52 socioeconomic dimensional projects that have accelerated development and transformed residents’ lives not only through employment but also in the education and health sectors.
These include the construction and equipping of dispensaries, the improvement of schools through the construction of classrooms, laboratories, dormitories, and administration buildings, and the drilling of boreholes.
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The Lake Turkana Wind Power Company CEO flew in two planes to oversee the two-day sustained distribution exercise, which took teams to South Horr, Kargi, Mt. Kulal, Korr, Namarei, Sunyai, and Oibor areas.
The distribution reached the communities of Laisamis, Merille, Loiyangalani, Moite, Arapal, and Sarima.
