FG Spends N12bn On School Feeding Monthly

12 Apr FG Spends N12bn On School Feeding Monthly

The Federal Government spends about N12 billion on the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programmes (NHGSFP) monthly, under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (MHADMSD).

Dr Umar Bindir, National Coordinator, National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) of the Ministry, stated this on Monday.

Bindir disclosed this at a two-day stakeholders consultative workshop on the development of a national policy for NHGSFP in Abuja.

He underscored the need for the country to have a national policy on school feeding programmes to ensure sustainability.

According to him, the school feeding programme is very expensive as over 10 million children are fed at the rate of N100 meal per child, as approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said that the programme was a continuation of deliberate strategies of the NSIP to institutionalise the clusters.

“Today we are focusing on the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme with the support of the World Food Programme (WFP), to develop an inclusive policy for NHGSFP.

“This is to ensure that it is sustainable, measurable and highly impactful as directed by Mr President.

“As we speak, we are feeding an average of 10 million children with the potential of that number increasing to 12 million probably in the next few weeks or months.

“Based on the impact of the programme – attracting children to school, ensuring the children are healthy, the children of the poor and vulnerable attending school longer it is necessary that the programme is sustained”, he said.

In his remarks, Head, Capacity Strengthening and Policy Coherence, UN World Food Program, Kim Do-Hwan, said the objective of the workshop was to engage critical stakeholders, who would jointly identify and agree on key components of a national school feeding policy.