24 August 2011
Full of energy: 10-year-old Zarafshan tucks into her biscuit. Picture: WFP
Taking the biscuit
Zarafshan, 10, sits down at her desk, takes a bite of a high-energy biscuit and smiles.
Thanks to UK aid, around 400,000 schoolchildren like her in some of the most remote and poorest provinces of Afghanistan are being encouraged to attend school through the provision of high-energy biscuits.
Zarafshan, who attends secondary school in Zamankor Village, in Panjsher Province, is a fan.
She said: “ I love receiving the biscuit in the morning every day. They give us energy and if we don’t eat these biscuits we will get hungry”.
The kids are alright
Her schoolmates have also given the biscuits the seal of approval.
Amjad Khan, 10, said: “When I eat the biscuit it gives me energy. I can run faster and can learn better when I eat these biscuits”. Faisal, nine, said: "I love the fact they are so tasty. If we don't eat the biscuits during school time, we get hungry."
The specially manufactured biscuits Zarafshan, Amjid and Faisal are eating will boost the nutrition levels of children in areas which don’t always have a reliable source of food.
Class action
This programme is also expected to have a positive impact on the attendance of girls in school – ensuring that areas which suffer from poor education standards do not see a further decline.
The high energy biscuits are wheat-based, supply 450 kcal of energy and 10-15 grams of protein per 100 gram serving, and are also fortified with extra vitamins and minerals.
Children in the schools receive a 100 gram packet of the biscuits each day they attend school, throughout the programme timespan.
Preventing malnutrition
The £7m programme, delivered through the World Food Programme, will help Afghanistan tackle its very high malnutrition rates: 59% of children five and under are moderately or severely stunted – too short for their age. It's a disadvantage they can never recover from. 39% of children under five are moderately to severely underweight - too thin for their height.
In general, under-nutrition impairs brain development during the early years and can contribute to lower learning ability later in life, making it a serious condition.
Meanwhile, many children still find it difficult to get a good education, especially in remote rural areas. School feeding supports primary education and is designed to promote enrolment and attendance, particularly for girls, at targeted schools in food insecure districts.
The next generation
The World Food Programme's Food for Education programme will help to improve school attendance rates by encouraging families to send their young children to school, knowing they will get a snack which is packed full of nutrients to keep them going throughout the school day.
One survey, the 2007-2008 National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, found that 7.4 million people – nearly a third of the population – are unable to get enough food to live active, healthy lives. Another 8.5 million people, or 37 percent, are on the borderline of food insecurity. Around 400,000 people each year are seriously affected by natural disasters, such as droughts, floods, earthquakes or extreme weather conditions.
But with the help of these biscuits, there is the chance for some of the next generation to grow up with a more nutritious diet than their parents.