It is 12:30 p.m. at Tarikom Primary School in Ghana’s Bawku West District. The school bell rings, breaking the stillness of the afternoon and signaling lunchtime. A long line of children begins to form under the relentless sun, each clutching a bowl or plate. Among them is Dauda (not his real name), a nine-year-old boy whose small frame reflects the struggles of displacement and deprivation.
Dauda’s bowl, tucked securely under his arm, represents more than just a container for food. It holds his hope for sustenance on an otherwise unpredictable day. He, like many others in this queue, is an asylum seeker from Burkina Faso. His family fled in 2022 when their once-peaceful village was ravaged by suspected terrorists. Now living in a camp in Tarikom, life for Dauda and his family is a constant battle for survival.
“This is the only food I have eaten since morning,” he says quietly, his voice trembling with a mix of gratitude and sorrow. “At the camp, sometimes we eat, and sometimes we don’t.”
Life in the camp
The Tarikom refugee camp is a patchwork of tarpaulins, sheltering displaced persons mostly from Burkina Faso. Inside one of these shelters, Dauda’s father, Seidu Amadou, sits on a worn mat, his face lined with worry. Once a successful farmer who grew millet, maize, sorghum, and rice, and reared livestock in Burkina Faso, Seidu now struggles to provide even a single meal a day for his family.
“I can’t give my children three meals a day,” he says, his voice heavy with despair. “The school feeding programme is the only thing that keeps them going.”
Like Dauda, Seidu’s two younger children also attend Tarikom Primary School. Their daily meal under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) has become the family’s lifeline.
A struggle for survival
For many families in Tarikom Refugee Camp, the GSFP is the difference between hope and despair. Zainabu Ousmane, another asylum seeker, prepares her daughter’s breakfast in their small shelter. Today, it is leftover Tuozaafi (TZ), a local dish, mixed with water. On other days, there is nothing to give.
“The food at school is the only thing they can count on,” Zainabu says, her voice breaking.
The GSFP, established in 2005 to reduce hunger and improve school enrolment, was designed for Ghanaian public school pupils. However, it now serves an additional 234 displaced Burkinabe children at Tarikom Primary School.
Education amid hunger
At Tarikom Primary School, refugee children have integrated well, overcoming language barriers and excelling academically. According to head teacher Ms. Ruphina Alambila, the displaced pupils have brought pride to the school, including securing second place in a district reading competition. “They’ve done exceptionally well, even representing the school in a district reading competition and securing second place,” Ms. Alambila said. However, their academic achievements are overshadowed by the daily struggle against hunger.
“When it is the second break and you get to the kitchen, they are always there ready to be served, and a day they don’t cook, it becomes a challenge. They will come to my office to complain about their stomach. And it is the children from the camp they normally come around. The reason is that they hardly get enough meals to eat before coming to school. So, they come to school with the intention that they are going to get food to eat. Sadly, sometimes, they don’t get to eat because the caterer sometimes doesn’t prepare food, so, when I ask, the caterer tells me she is not paid. When you look at them, you can tell that severe hunger is dealing with them,” she stated.
The school has had to increase its daily rice consumption from 20 kilograms to 30 kilograms to meet the growing demand. Yet, it is still insufficient to feed all the children adequately.
Challenges in the system
The caterer at Tarikom Primary School, responsible for preparing meals under the GSFP, declined to speak. However, the Zonal Officer for the GSFP in the Bawku West District, Mr. Samari Ibrahim, shed light on the program’s limitations.
“The feeding programme is not designed to fill their bellies but to keep them going,” Mr. Ibrahim said. “If you feed their bellies completely, they’ll go back to class and start dozing.”
He also acknowledged delays in payment to caterers, which disrupt the consistent provision of meals. “If the caterer is not cooking every day because she’s not paid, it means other caterers across the country are facing the same issue. Unfortunately, there’s little a Desk Officer can do about it.”
Efforts to speak to the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Bawku West, Daniel Anania Atampuba have proven unsuccessful despite multiple attempts. These efforts included visits to his office, phone calls, and messages, which either met his absence or were not answered. In response to the inquiries, the DCE eventually sent a WhatsApp message explaining his unavailability.
According to him, he is heavily engaged in campaigning for his party’s parliamentary candidate following the lifting of a ban on activities of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the area.
“Pls also remember the period we are in now is critical and my time is limited and quite busy,” the DCE stated in the message. “If u call I don’t pick kindly know that I am busy doing something. Currently in a meeting. Our campaign was suspended for some time, and we just resumed campaigns. Pls.”
A call for action
The plight of Dauda and the children at Tarikom Primary School highlights a critical need for greater support and collaboration. The GSFP, while a lifeline, requires additional resources and structural improvements to address the growing demands of displaced families.
For Dauda, education represents more than learning—it is a source of stability and hope. He dreams of a day when his family can return to Burkina Faso, rebuild their lives, and leave hunger behind. Until then, the meal he receives at school is his anchor in an uncertain world.
As Dauda finishes his meal and heads back to class, the weight of his reality contrasts with his quiet resilience. His story is a stark reminder of the power of compassion and the urgency of action to support the most vulnerable.
For Ghana and its partners, addressing these challenges is not just a humanitarian responsibility—it is a step toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger by 2030. In the meantime, Dauda and countless others wait, their lives hinging on the promise of a meal and a chance for a better tomorrow.
A feature by Joshua Asaah/A1Radio|101.1Mhz|Tarikom
