According to the Federal Government, the National Home-Grown School Feeding Program has been enhanced from N70 to N100 per day for a child in a public elementary school.
Dr. Umar Bindir, the National Coordinator of the National Social Investments Programme (NSIP), stated this on Wednesday in Abuja during a two-day National Consultative Meeting on Public Food Procurement in the Context of Nigeria’s National Home-Grown School Feeding Program.
The initiative is run by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, according to Bindir.
“When we started in 2016 before COVID-19, we experienced with difficulty to implement the N70 per child.
“We have made presentation to the honourable minister, who passionately made submission to the president and Mr President has graciously approved that we should raise the feeding from N70 to N100 per a child.
“And the Minister of Finance is giving a very good cooperation to ensure that this actually is implemented on time, “ he said.
Bindir took advantage of the opportunity to encourage the team from all of the federation’s states to focus on the president’s gesture and the cabinet’s commitment to maintain the initiative’s long-term viability.
“We also hope that the state government through the governors and their cabinets will also realised the importance of this programme meant to tackle poverty. “
According to him, the program is about encouraging women to become entrepreneurs and good food producers, not only feeding the children.
“It is also about enhancing the value, the commercial and entrepreneur value of our small scale farmers.
“So we hope that this presidential gesture will be understood by not us but also by the states so that we can strengthen the programme, “ he explained.
He went on to say that the purpose of the consultation meeting was to bring together the NHGSFP’s implementation team around the country to discuss food and feeding procurement difficulties.
“The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme of Nigeria is recognised now globally as one of the most an ambitious programme of feeding our children in public schools.
“So the intention of this consultative programme is first to drive home the partnership works and to also establish that Nigeria is doing the right things.
“As well as to ensure that we enhance our implementation procedures so that we can go higher and become better,’’ he said.
Dr. Emmanuel Agogo, the Country Representative for Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL), stated that it was the substance of the meal, not the cost, that determined its quality.
According to Agogo, a nutritious meal must be well-balanced, with less salt and saturated fat.
The National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), according to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), is a government-led school feeding program aimed at improving the health and scholastic outcomes of public primary school students.
