Shoprite School feeding programme gathers momentum

Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

By KALOBWE BWALYA

SHOPRITE Zambia will continue working with communities facing challenges such as school feeding programmes and lack of access to adequate nutrition as the way of paying back to the community, says Shoprite general manager Charles Bota has said.

Mr Bota said the pilot project which it launched in 2015 in Lusaka’s Linda community school to address an immediate need for nutrition for school children was on course.

In an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Bota explained that the programme was underway and was expected to end next month so that other communities may benefit too.

“We are going to head to another school, which I think should be in Chipata compound although we have not finalized. And we have been going there to feed the children even to today we were there, but we need to move to another school for the same programme,” said Mr Bota.

He said the launch of the Shoprite mobile soup kitchen initiative had a modified food truck fitted on which allowed the company to cook and deliver soup to over 600 pupils of Linda community school per day.

Mr Bota said the Shoprite will continue fighting hunger in Zambia and expressed happiness that the chain store was able to join forces towards this objective.

And parents whose children were beneficiaries thanked Shoprite for the programme which had stopped many school children from absconding lessons.

Margret Nalwamba of Linda compound said since the chain store started serving soups at school there had been a reduction in absenteeism and late coming with school recording positive attendance.

Another parent Abraham Mwamba said the intervention was a blessing to the community as the issue of hunger in the area was the main challenge because hungry children could not learn properly.