National School Nutrition Programme - KwaZulu-Natal Department ...

learners in participating schools selected/appointed to
work as cooks or prepare meals for learners on all
feeding days.
2.13 Stipend/honorarium: refers to a stipulated fixed amount
paid to the voluntary food handler/cook at the end of
the feeding month.
2.14 Centralized Payment: refers to the system of payment in
which service providers are paid directly by the
Department through their authorized bank accounts.
2.15 Decentralized Payment: a new system that shall be
implemented with effect from 2012/13 in which NSNP
funds shall be transferred to schools in quarterly
tranches for the payment of service providers.
2. BACKGROUND
The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), previously
known as Primary School Nutrition Programme (PSNP) was
introduced in 1994 as one of the Presidential Lead projects
of the Reconstruction and Development Programme. The
programme was introduced as a strategy to alleviate poverty.
Poverty, under nutrition, household food insecurity problems
are co-related and their casualties overlap. Under-nutrition
is caused by inadequate food intake, which can be caused by
poverty and household food insecurity. The poverty
statistics by the World Bank, 1996, indicated that KwaZulu
Natal has a poverty level of 26%. 53% of the population in
the Province is poor (Census 1996). Studies by the Food
Agriculture organization (FAO), UNESCO and the World Health
Organization (WHO) indicate that hunger impacts negatively
on the Millennium Developmental Goals (MDG’s), namely
universal primary education, gender equality, child
survival, maternal health, management of HIV and AIDS, TB
and malaria, and environmental stability.
Given the high incidence and severity of poverty in KwaZulu
Natal Province, hunger is a real problem affecting millions
of children from poor households. HIV and AIDS have a
KZN-DOE NSNP Policy 2011 -4-
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