Elijah Winawanga, a grade 12 student at St. Vincent School in Zambia, finds joy and purpose in tending the school garden where he’s learning valuable skills in growing a diverse range of vegetables.

The proceeds from the sales are used to purchase books for students whose families can’t afford them, turning the garden into a source of both nourishment and opportunity.

As the harvest season approaches, the Southern Africa region is emerging from the impact of months of El Niño-induced drought throughout 2023 and 2024.

In Zambia, the drought exposed the vulnerability of schools and smallholder farmers who relied on rain-fed agriculture.

Before the Zambian government and partners stepped in with emergency school meals, many schools struggled to provide consistent meals as local harvests had failed.

At the time, only a few schools had invested in irrigation, greenhouses and practicing the organic sack gardening technique to support their school meals.

For students like Eunice Yumba, in grade 9 at Maimwene Primary School, the drought’s impact changed her education.

Travelling 50km by bus to school each day, she often had to skip classes if she had no packed lunch to bring from home. That’s why she strongly supports school gardening practices and techniques that can support school meals.

Navigating extreme weather as a community

The drought left lasting memories of hunger and helplessness among students. It also taught smallholder farmers a hard truth that relying solely on rain-fed farming is no longer sustainable.

The Zambian government also felt the pressure of the drought, stretching its national budget to support struggling families.

In collaboration with partners, it launched the 2024 National Drought Response Plan with school meals at its heart.

The plan not only aims to keep children fed with nutritious meals but also strengthens the capacity of schools and smallholder farmers to withstand prolonged dry spells and extreme weather, building resilience where it’s needed most.

An additional 2.2 million children across 36 drought-stricken districts were added to the emergency school meals program, expanding its reach to 106 districts and providing school meals to 4.7 million children.

With more children returning to class, the government introduced school gardening projects as part of the ‘one hectare’ policy to promote climate-smart agriculture and hands-on learning.

These gardening projects are funded with support from partners like the governments of Germany, Japan and Finland as well as the World Food Programme.

Schools have adopted various models from greenhouse gardens to school-based gardens to improve nutrition and build resilience to extreme weather events within school communities.

These efforts have also encouraged stronger ties between schools, local smallholder farmers and markets, creating a vibrant exchange of knowledge and boosting local food production.

Sister Judith Mulenga, headteacher at Kabwata Primary School, says the one-hectare initiative stood out for its hands-on approach to teaching students climate-resilient farming techniques.

“Through field days, students learn about drip irrigation, organic sack gardening, and environmental protection,” she explains. “We are turning crisis into opportunity – combining immediate relief with long-term sustainability. This initiative invests in communities today and in children who will carry this knowledge into the future.”

Ms. Lucia Munkombwe, whose children attend Mwaimwene Primary School, applauds the integration of climate-smart agriculture into the classroom.

“It’s empowering our children to farm in smarter, more sustainable ways, especially now that weather patterns are so unpredictable,” she says.“Initiatives such as these help Zambia to raise a generation of environmentally conscious citizens equipped with skills that will benefit their families, communities and the nation.”

Home grown: A school meals model supporting farmers

The 2024 National Drought Response Plan is also addressing the challenges faced by smallholder farmers, many of whom still rely on rain-fed agriculture.

By prioritizing locally sourced food through the ‘Home-Grown School Meals’ program, the government is creating a more reliable market for farmers while lowering the cost of school meals.

To keep smallholder farmers actively supplying food to schools, the Zambian government, supported by the World Food Programme, is helping them adapt to extreme weather.

World Food Programme Country Director Cissy Kabasuuga says these efforts are already boosting food production, especially in drought-prone regions: “We now have a significant number of smallholder farmers directly linked to the school feeding program, supplying a variety of nutritious foods. This not only ensures regular income for farmers but also helps schools provide consistent, healthy meals.”

She further stressed the urgent need for expanded partnerships to scale up support for smallholder farmers and increase investment in climate-smart school gardens, part of the one hectare initiative, to support the government in meeting its ambitious national commitment to reach 6.6 million children with nutritious school meals by 2026.

Technical assistance for locally led solutions to a better future

By fully integrating nutrition into education and strengthening links with local agriculture, Zambia is laying the foundation for a more resilient, food-secure future—one where children thrive, farmers prosper and communities grow stronger together.

Zambia is positioning itself at the forefront of a global movement to transform school meals into a platform for systemic change across nutrition, agriculture and education.

To increase support to countries committed to school meals as a cross-sectoral solution for child well-being, the World Food Programme and GPE have joined forces through the School Health and Nutrition Technical Assistance Facility.

This initiative provides tailored support to governments, helping to scale sustainable, nationally owned school meal programs that promote girls’ education and empower women farmers.

Zambia was invited to participate in the initiative due to the significant impact of malnutrition on education and the government’s strong commitment to scaling up the Home-Grown School Meals program to all 116 districts.

The partnership in Zambia will provide technical assistance to the government, anchored in education sector priorities defined by the local education group and aligned with broader cross-sector policy dialogue.

Since 2022, Zambia has also been an active member of the School Meals Coalition, demonstrating continued leadership in this dynamic space.

The government has shown clear ambition to strengthen linkages between nutrition and agriculture for more sustainable food systems and to improve multisectoral coordination.

Zambia has also developed and operationalized a national home-grown school meals strategy and convened a national consultation meeting to discuss the adoption of school meals guidelines from both the Southern African Development Community and the African Union Development Agency New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA NEPAD).

By positioning school meals as a strategic entry point for broader development goals, Zambia is setting the pace- and serving as a model for other countries facing similar challenges.