Sustainability of the Home - Grown School Feeding Programme in Sinda District, Zambia: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Background: School feeding programs are an important intervention for providing school going pupils with food while at school. The Home - Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) in Zambia is implemented by the government that supplies food rations to rural primary schools on a termly basis. The purpose of this study was to identify ways of sustaining the HGSFP in Sinda District of Zambia. Methods: The study employed a qualitative descriptive research design. Purposive sampling was used to select the respondents. Data was collected using semi - structured interview guides and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: Four distinct themesas challenges in implementing the HGSFP for sustainability: Human, financial and material resources; Time management; School production units; and Stakeholder collaboration. Conclusion: The HGSFP is a very effective programme in promoting good health, fighting high dropout rates, high absenteeism rates as well as promoting retention and school attendance in primary schools. Primary schools in collaboration with various stakeholders need to expand their production units to sustain the HGSFP in Sinda district.