Market Forces Threatening School Feeding: The Case For School Farming In Nakuru Town, Kenya

Influence Of Young Farmers’ Club Of Kenya Activities On Secondary School Students’ Performance In Kenya Certificate Of Secondary Education Agriculture in Rongai Sub-County Of Nakuru County, Kenya

“…These were left to YFCK members for routine management practices together with other personnel employed by the school. This concurs with Foeken (2007) found that most boarding schools with enough land practiced livestock keeping (mainly for milk). It was carried out by the school administration to reduce the cost of buying food for the students.…”

“…Most of the day schools had their land hived off from primary schools, hence had lower acreage compared to County schools. More than 51.9% of schools engaged in tree planting, this agrees with Foeken et al (2007) argue that agriculture extends beyond the traditional narrow view of crop cultivation and livestock keeping. Tree planting and flower gardening has often been neglected in studies concerning farming-yet these activities, and especially tree planting may be undertaken in relation to or together with farming.…”

“…Most of the boarding schools had land reserved for infrastructural development. However, this contradicts Foeken (2007), argued most boarding schools with enough land practiced farming as a way of producing their own food, in addition crop production (mainly maize and beans) was carried out by the school administration to reduce the cost of buying food for the students. This practice has become one of the ways schools respond to increases in food prices, reduced government subsidies while at the same time maintaining affordable school fees for parents.…”

“…Livestock production ranked among the lowest, the result is rather unique as expectations were that it was the most popular YFCK activity and forms a major part of the syllabus. According to Foeken et al (2007) the popularity of crops over livestock may be explained that growing of crops is not only cheaper but also easier than livestock keeping. This is in terms of feeding, disease management and day-to-day care.…”

“…Livestock production projects scored the lowest (M=1.54, SD=0.52) on the influence on students performance in KCSE Agriculture. According to Foeken et al (2007), the prevalence of tree planting activities in most of the schools was closely linked to the wind and dust, which is common in the town due to its location on the floor of the Rift Valley with its volcanic soils. The Maasai named the place Nakurro meaning a "place of winds" or a "dusty place".…”