Over 1500 learners from three counties have so far benefitted from nutritional campaign programmes being undertaken by a nonprofit organization, Compassion International.
The learners drawn from Vihiga, Kisumu and Nandi counties have had their school fees paid in additional to other stipends.
Compassion International coordinator Richard Sijenyi said the programme has been going on for the last thirty years in the three counties that are hard hit by malnutrition in children.
Speaking during a stakeholder’s forum in Kisumu, Sijenyi said the organization has been paying schools fees for the beneficiaries in addition to placing them on dietary programmes.
Sijenyi said that learners from very needy backgrounds are the ones who have been identified for the programme.
The coordinator said research has concluded that poverty is linked to malnutrition, dispelling the false notion that a balanced diet requires a lot of money.
He noted that a lot of traditional foodstuff which people ignore have immense nutritional value.
Vihiga County Public Health Officer Solomon Omukoto said many types of food are contaminated due to poor handling.
Omukoto said many other additives are injected into food, hence compromising their nutritional value.
He said it is a constitutional duty of the government to provide its citizens with adequate and safe food, revealing that nutritionists have been working with community health promoters in a bid to combat malnutrition across the three counties.
The event brought together health professionals, government administrators and community gate keepers in the three counties.
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