Background and Planning
Organization: Rise Against Hunger, International and Rural Family Hope Foundation, Kenya
Location: Migori, HomaBay and Nyamira Counties
The program incorporates a “homegrown school feeding” approach, sourcing locally available food from local smallholder farmers to stimulate rural economic development. School garden initiatives and strong community partnerships are key to its sustainability strategy. The evaluation was a crucial milestone for assessing progress toward its objectives, identifying challenges, and guiding necessary adaptations thus ensuring the program achieved its intended impact in strengthening its contribution to child nutrition, education, and rural livelihoods.
The survey (2025) assessed several themes in schools including; pupils’ dietary, pupils anthropometric data (height, weight, age), schools’ performance (academic scores, ranking), farmer’s socio-economic data (income, acreage under farming, production volumes), pupils cognitive performance (memory, problem solving & decision-making), enrollment information for learners, water access and availability, school kitchen gardening, and hygiene promotion and health education. Under each theme, the study investigated the status of the schools through capturing information on the above thematic areas and comparing to previous data and results (2022).
Survey Methodology
The evaluation assessed several themes in schools including; pupils’ dietary, pupils anthropometric data (height, weight, age), schools’ performance (academic scores, ranking), farmer’s socio-economic data (income, acreage under farming, production volumes), pupils cognitive performance (memory, problem solving & decision-making), enrollment information for learners, water access and availability, school kitchen gardening, and hygiene promotion and health education. Under each theme, the study investigated the status of the schools through capturing information on the above thematic areas.
Key reference was made to MoE (Kenya) School Feeding Program policies and guidelines and UNICEF JMP guides and questionnaires for WASH in Schools. The study a doped a mixed-methods approach and prior to kicking off the evaluation, a desk study and a document review was conducted which informed development of the survey tools; the consultant ensured the study questions were aligned with the thematic areas of the ‘Lisha Kwa Maarifa’ (LKM) project as well as previous assessments. The research team interviewed a school administrator that is the principal or head teacher. If the administrator was not available, the deputy headteacher or the teacher on duty was interviewed and visits were conducted during school hours.
Project Days
55 days
Kenya
Migori, HomaBay and Nyamira Counties
USD
38,500
Project Duration
May– June 2025
Data Collection Process
Survey Programming: The questionnaire was programmed into the online server (Kobo Toolbox) then the mobile tool was transferred to each mobile device individually using a wireless or mobile Internet connection using Kobo Collect software for deployment during pre-test and actual data collection. Research assistants were able to access the app and enter data offline and survey data was then uploaded whenever there was access to internet (nightly – everyday).
Training and Pre-test. Training was undertaken for the team on the survey tools. It involved review in detail of the study questionnaires, survey objectives, approach and the standard fieldwork procedures to be implemented during fieldwork. The questionnaires review not only entailed the reading and discussing of each of the questions, but also plenary mocking sessions to assess the flow, consistency and appropriateness of the phrases and terms used therein. Upon completion of training, the field team pre-tested the survey tools for consistency and flow; the process informed final revisions on the questionnaires, mobile tools, and other data collection related modalities.
Data Collection: Data collection across the schools was conducted by a team of research assistants who were supervised by field supervisors and the consultant. Since data collection was through using mobile phones, data synchronization was done on daily basis and summaries on sample achieved per day were shared with field team in order to know the targets achieved. Quality related issues were shared with the team prior to continuation of data collection the following day.
Data Analysis and Report Writing
Prior to analysis, the consultant undertook data cleaning which involved identifying responses that were improbable (outside the normally expected range) or impossible – outliers, inconsistent data, etc. During the analysis, descriptive statistics was generated for each question to show frequencies, proportions, and averages. A draft report was prepared in line with the format required. The consultant presented key findings to the Project Team and incorporated the comments or additional information in preparing the final evaluation report.
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