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A head teacher at a school in a Kenyan slum has come up with a way to put nutrition on the curriculum – as well as on the children鈥檚 plates.

Ann Wambui, 49, is head teacher at Anwa Junior Academy in Kibera, Nairobi, and is passionate about agriculture because she likes 鈥渉ow green brings beauty and peace, crops and trees, and cleans the air鈥�.

Feeding her primary school pupils is high on her agenda.聽

鈥淎s a school we are passionate about children鈥檚 full concentration in class,” she said.

“If some children cannot afford lunch due to the low income their parents have (most are casual labourers), the fruits and vegetables planted in the school are used to prepare something small for these children.”

Nutrition is vital for children, especially the young ones.聽Good nutrition is more than just having enough to eat – it also means having the right balance of foods and sufficient nutrients.聽

Having enough of the right foods is especially important for infants and toddlers, whose bodies and brains need good nutrition for healthy growth.

For children of all ages, it is important in helping them to concentrate at school.

It’s not easy planting fruits and vegetables in congested Kibera – home to more than one million people – so the school does its planting in containers.

At the “environment club”, students water the plants and learn about the importance of the crops and trees in people鈥檚 lives.聽

Many schools in Kenya don鈥檛 have access to a state-funded lunch programme,聽 so schools like Anwa Junior Academy and APBET schools – institutions that are not formally funded by the government – need the parents to provide the lunches – often the previous night’s leftovers.

The APBET (Alternative Provision of Basic Education and Training) schools are currently funded by donations from the private sector or charities.聽

Ann came up with a way to raise small funds where each child is told to contribute two pennies – used to buy seedlings or fertiliser – as a contribution.聽

鈥淔ood is a major problem to many schools in the slum areas all over Africa and many government聽institutions are not able to fund all the feeding programmes,鈥� she said.

鈥淢any parents fight to take their children to public schools where there is a feeding聽programme. Many of our children are hungry and depend on the food being offered so they聽can concentrate in class.

鈥淧arents who do not get slots are forced to take their children to APBET schools where there is no feeding programme.

鈥淧arents are encouraged to prepare something for their children to carry and you find that聽most parents give their children food that they fed last night, which is not good for聽consumption.鈥�

So teachers like Ann decided to look for a way to make sure children in her school were fed on good, healthy food.

That’s why more vegetables and fruits are being planted despite the lack of space in her school.聽

She said: 鈥淭he more teachers and parents who can work together by giving water or seedlings or even聽manpower, it will improve the lives of the children in the slums and help build a better聽environment for their education.”