Lira School Lauds CASCADE for Improving Learning Environment Amid Feeding Challenges
By Patrick Okino
Every morning, 12-year-old Juliet Akello, a Primary Six pupil at Walela Primary School in Ayami Sub-county, Lira District, wakes up before dawn to collect mangoes from her family compound before setting off for school.
She carefully packs about 20 mangoes into a locally made school bag to serve as both breakfast and lunch because her school does not provide meals.
“Due to the lack of a midday meal at school, I carry mangoes to eat during break time and lunch time. I also share some with my close friends,” Akello said.
She leaves home at 6 a.m. and arrives at school around 7 a.m.
Akello’s experience reflects the reality facing hundreds of pupils at Walela Primary School, where hunger is increasingly affecting attendance, concentration and academic performance.
Another pupil, Emmanuel Ojok, said his concentration drops significantly after break time because of hunger.
“When you are hungry, you end up learning nothing that day,” he said.
The two pupils are among the 814 learners—402 boys and 412 girls—who spend nearly 10 hours at school each day with little or no food.
Located about 45 kilometres north of Lira City, Walela Primary School is the only one among six primary schools in Ayami Sub-county that has failed to establish a school feeding programme.
School authorities attribute the situation to parents who have repeatedly declined to contribute food items or money to support feeding initiatives.
The head teacher, Romano Ojur, said several meetings had been held with parents to establish a feeding programme, but little progress had been made.
According to Ojur, parents agreed during a 2025 general meeting to contribute eight kilograms of maize and six kilograms of beans per child. However, when schools reopened, none complied.
“Parents agreed to provide maize and beans for their children, but when we asked them to start bringing the food, they did not respond. Most say they are waiting for the first harvest,” Ojur explained.
He said hunger continues to affect school attendance, with teachers reporting cases of absenteeism almost daily.
“Many pupils report to school in the morning, but by afternoon the numbers have dropped significantly. Out of about 600 pupils who attend morning lessons, only around 400 remain in class in the afternoon,” Ojur said.
He attributed the trend to hunger, noting that many learners leave school during the day in search of food.
“Many of them escape from school and return the following day, while others stay away for an entire week before reporting back,” he added.
Ojur was speaking during a visit by officials from the Catalyzing Strengthened Policy Action for Healthy Diets and Resilience (CASCADE), who were following up on issues affecting the community. In Uganda , it is being implemented under Care International Uganda, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and partners.
They previously conducted a Community Score Card assessment in Ayami Sub-county and identified several challenges, including lack of electricity, shortage of a midwife at Apuce Health Centre, a broken borehole at Walela, inadequate desks at Walela and Acutkumu primary schools, and the absence of a school feeding programme.
When Ojur indicated that parents were expected to contribute food “this month or next month,” Ayami Sub-county Chief George Obia expressed concern.
“That means there is a serious problem,” Obia said.
He noted that he personally attended meetings with parents and appealed to them to support the feeding programme because of its importance to learning outcomes.
Obia suggested that the school establish its own maize garden instead of continuing to wait for parents indefinitely.
Poor Academic Performance
Ojur said the absence of school meals has negatively affected academic performance.
“Pupils cannot learn effectively when they are hungry,” he said.
Last year, only two of the 19 candidates who sat the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) obtained Division Three, while the rest were ungraded.
The LCIII Chairperson of Ayami Sub-county, Thomas Obur, said Walela remains the only school in the area without a feeding programme despite continuous sensitisation efforts.
“We keep communicating through different forums, but parents have not complied. Some do not even want to contribute money for examinations,” Obur said.
He warned that poor feeding practices continue to undermine pupils’ academic performance.
“The children do not even receive porridge at school. That is very bad, and as leaders we must act,” he added.
CASCADE Intervention
Immaculate Daisy Yossa, the Uganda Consortium Manager for the CASCADE Project, said the initiative is being implemented in six African countries—Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Benin—with funding from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The project’s overall objective is to improve food security and reduce malnutrition.
“We cannot achieve our nutrition goals without discussing food security. If food is not available, nutrition becomes impossible,” Yossa said.
She explained that the project uses approaches such as Community Score Cards and Farmer Field Schools to complement government efforts in improving nutrition and public service delivery.
“Government has the ultimate responsibility of ensuring that young people are healthy, well-fed and able to access essential services such as education and healthcare,” she said.
According to Yossa, the scorecard approach helps communities identify gaps in service delivery and hold duty bearers accountable.
She said the project seeks to ensure that public services are not only available but also responsive to the actual needs of communities.
Through the CASCADE intervention, Walela Primary School received 50 desks after local leaders identified the challenge. Before the intervention, the school had only 42 desks serving 814 pupils.
The project also supported the rehabilitation of the school borehole, reducing the distance pupils travelled to access water.
Emmanuel Okello, a Primary Six pupil, said the rehabilitation of the borehole and provision of desks had greatly improved learning conditions.
“It has improved classroom learning and keeps us away from dust,” he said.
Robina Akello also praised CASCADE for supporting the school.
“We no longer walk long distances to access clean and safe water,” she said.
School Feeding Remains a Major Challenge
The District Inspector of Schools, Patrick Olwit, said school feeding remains a major challenge across Lira District.
Of the district’s 68 primary schools, only between 15 and 20 have successfully implemented feeding programmes.
“Parents have largely failed to embrace school feeding despite its importance. This is contributing to poor performance, absenteeism, school dropouts and pupils escaping from school due to hunger,” Olwit said.
He noted that some parents claim they lack food even at home.
“It is a serious issue and a negative attitude that threatens both the quality of education and the nutrition of children,” he added.
Olwit warned that poor nutrition is contributing to stunting and poor learning outcomes among pupils.
Call for Stronger Action
To address the problem, Olwit proposed the enactment of a district by-law requiring parents to support school feeding programmes.
“There is a need for all district stakeholders to come together because this issue goes beyond education; it is also a health concern,” he said.
He emphasized the need for sustained advocacy to help parents understand the value of feeding children while at school.
“Food helps children develop their brains, grow properly and become stronger,” he said.
He also called for stronger implementation of the national school feeding policy at district and school levels.
District Performance
Lira District’s 2025 PLE results further highlight the challenge.
Out of 3,092 candidates who sat the examinations, only 59 scored Division One. District records show that 1,151 candidates passed in Division Two, 854 in Division Three, 412 in Division Four, while 584 were ungraded.
Education leaders fear that unless school feeding programmes are strengthened, learning outcomes will continue to deteriorate, particularly in rural communities where hunger remains a daily struggle for many pupils.
