Nombuso* looks forward to going to school every morning because there she gets something to eat.

The Grade 3 pupil from Itemogeng Primary School in Orange Farm stays with her parents, both of whom are unemployed.

"Her mother came to me and explained that she is unemployed and sometimes they go to bed without food," her teacher Glenda Hlongwane said. "That motivated me to identify needy kids in my classroom and to make it my priority that they eat enough and take some food home."

Pupils receive breakfast at 10.30am, however, there are special arrangements for pupils who need to eat earlier than that.

Western Cape is the only province that serves breakfast as part of the school nutrition programme.

"Our school has kids who do not receive child support grants and some of them are from foreign countries, so we make arrangements for a certain number of kids to come earlier than 10.30am," Hlongwane said.

With unemployment rates in South Africa at 26.4%, some parents rely on the R330 government child support grant to put food on the table.

Mbali Gumede, a single mother of three, sells scones at a local primary school. "I depend on the money that I make here daily and my two kids receive child support grants," Gumede said.

According to Food Bank SA, more than 11million people in the country go hungry every day.

With the challenges of hunger being greatest in the mornings, children who have not eaten since the night before are reported to have a greater feeling of fatigue in the mid-morning.

Registered dietician Kelly Francis said: "Breakfast is important, especially for kids, because kids need energy to concentrate and it helps for their long-term growth.

"When a person is hungry, their glucose level drops and they always feel tired so breakfast is important, especially against winter influenza and to fight diseases."

*Not her real name

World Hunger Day is being celebrated around the world on 28 May 2015.

mncuber@sowetan.co.za