FG promises to feed 9 Million Pupils Across 53,000 Public Schools Nationwide

The Federal Government through its Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has promised that they will feed 9 million pupils across 53k public schools in the country.

This is coming after the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) renewed its commitment towards successful implementation of the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) as schools resume for the 2022 academic year.

Assuring Nigerians that FG will feed pupils, Sadiya said:

“National Home Grown School Feeding Programme remains an important intervention of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Through it, hunger, malnutrition, poverty, education can all be addressed. It is an investment that is fully funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria because of its sheer potential as a development driver.

“We at the FMHADMSD are here to ensure that this programme is strengthened and sustained so that it can continue to support the needs of the children, families, women and communities it targets. The technical support from the World Food Programme is therefore timely, relevant and well appreciated,” she noted.

Home Grown School Feeding initiative which was launched in 2016, seeks to promote nutrition education and better eating habits and encourage the diversification of production with a special emphasis on local crops.

Under the new arrangement, the World Food Programme which is backing the next stage with a significant transfer of ICT equipment. This includes; tablets with access to the PLUS Schools Menus – a free tool to help state Nutrition Officers design nutritious menus for schools.

The hardware will not only support the Ministry’s efforts to digitalise its monitoring and evaluation system but also enable the national roll-out of the PLUS School Menu Tool developed by WFP to standardize cost-effective menu development.