Leading Sugar Manufacturer in the county, Illovo Sugar Malawi, has allocated over K109 million towards Mary’s Meal School Feeding Programme, targeting four schools in Chikwawa district typically Nchalo.
About 4,954 students are expected to benefit from the allocation for a period of 12 months translating to 979 878 meals. The primary schools to benefit are Chimbiya, Nambesa, Mwanza and Namicheni.
Speaking during the partnership signing ceremony at Illovo Head Office at Limbe in Blantyre, Managing Director for Illovo Lekani Katandula said: “Illovo did not hesitate to respond positively when approached by Mary’s Meals with an appeal for assistance towards its School Feeding Program.
“This program, just like our own sugar fortification program, also seeks to improve the nutritional status of children thereby increasing their chances of doing well in their schooling.
“The children who will benefit from this support will be able to attend school with the assurance of at least one nutritious meal a day thereby reducing dropout rates among children who cannot afford a meal at home,”
In her remarks, Country director for Mary’s Meals Angela Chipeta Khonje commended Illovo Malawi for supporting the school feeding programme saying it will help to keep children in school.
According to Chipeta Khonje, over 3 million learners in the country need to be reached out with the programme and they currently feed about 1.1 million children only.
Mary’s Meals spends about K45 million to feed about 1.1 million learners in a day in the school feeding programme.
Illovo Malawi, which is one of two sugar producers operating in the country, supplies more than 60% of its total sugar sales into the domestic consumer and industrial markets, and a portion of the balance exported regionally within the sub-continent
