Determinants of the public primary school feeding project sustainability in North-Horr sub-county in Marsabit county, Kenya

Abstract

Hunger and poverty directly correlate to both educational attendance and performance. Children from poor rural communities of such as North-Horr Sub County in Marsabit County suffer a lack of access to schools, as they are required to walk long distances to school many a times on empty stomachs without surety of lunch. The School Feeding Projects have the prospective to upsurge access to primary education, decrease dropout rates and boost academic achievement of pupils. The purpose of this study was to determine the key determinants of the public primary school feeding project sustainability in North-Horr Sub County in Marsabit County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to determine the influence of resource availability, parental involvement, infrastructure and school management practices on the sustainability of public primary school feeding project. The study was based on Abraham Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs and Epstein’s Theory. Descriptive survey research design was applied to undertake the study of the research problem. The total target population consisted of 15 public primary schools in North Horr District. The unit of analysis comprise of 150 teachers, 15 head teachers and 4 Area Education Officers. Stratified proportionate random sampling technique was used to get a sample size of 119. Primary data was obtained using self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaires were given to the respondents through the drop and pick method. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 25.0). Referencing of all received questionnaires was done and coding of questionnaire items was done for facilitating data entry. After data cleaning which entailed checking for errors in entry, descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean score and standard deviation was estimated for all the quantitative variables. The qualitative data from the open-ended questions was analysed using thematic content analysis and presented in narrative form. Inferential data analysis was done using multiple regression analysis and Pearson correlation analysis. Information was presented in form of tables. The findings of the study were that there is capacity to plan and manage budget needs. The study also found that parents are consulted when designing the project. Further, it was found that the watering taps were not plenty in the school; and the kitchen equipment was not well maintained. The research found that the management maintains personnel records and data. The conclusions of the were that parental involvement had the greatest influence on sustainability of public primary school feeding project in North-Horr Sub County in Marsabit County, followed by infrastructure, then resource availability while school management practices had the least influence on sustainability of public primary school feeding project in North-Horr Sub County in Marsabit County. The study recommended that governments should create dedicated funds with a mandate to provide financing for storage infrastructure projects. The study also recommended that the programme managers and policy makers should build a consensus on policies and objectives that focus on how SFP can effectively contribute to improving education and meet the nutrition and health needs of school age children.