Giving Compass' Take:

· For many low-income families living in the Nairobi slums, school lunches funded by the World Food Program were a savior for children. Now, administration of Kenya's school lunch program has shifted to the government raising concerns regarding the future of the initiative. 

· Can the Kenyan government afford to continue the school lunch program on its own? How is the World Food Program continuing to support this initiative? 

· School meals do more than just fill bellies. 

It is a cold midday in Nairobi and Peter Auma is sitting outside his house in the city’s Mathare slums. His wife, Consolata, is busy nursing their 4-year-old son, who is suffering from sickle cell disease and has just arrived from the hospital. He is the youngest of their nine children.

Auma, a 45-year-old fisherman, is also not well. His illness forced him to quit his job two years ago. His wife has a heart problem and had to cut back on her work. That means that the family has difficulty with money, between paying school fees and rent, buying food and other household items.

One thing Auma has never had to worry about is school lunches for his children. The kids who are in primary school have always had their midday meal provided by the World Food Program (WFP).

But for the Aumas and tens of thousands of other parents living within Nairobi slums and the arid areas of the country, there is a looming uncertainty. In May, WFP gave its last money for the school feeding program.

The Kenyan government has been slowly taking over the program since 2009, but with ongoing support from the WFP. Now the administration is taking total responsibility and already administrators and parents say that cracks are starting to show.

Read the full article about Kenya’s school lunch program by Dominic Kirui at News Deeply.