By Yusuf Adua
The Federal Government of Nigeria says it will augment its implementation of the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) with enrollment of 14 million pupils by 2023.
The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, stated this at a stakeholders’ engagement on enumeration of beneficiaries and scaling up of the programme, on Thursday in Damaturu, Yobe.
The minister, represented by Alhaji Ali Grema, North-East Monitor of the programme, announced that over nine million pupils were currently enrolled in the programme across the country.
Ahe added that the focus of the ministry as directed is to enroll additional five million pupils, adding that over 100, 000 cooks were engaged under the scheme and 100,000 small holder farmers participating in the value chain.
“The NHGSFP is designed as a multifaceted intervention to drive school enrollment, boost the nutrition of the pupils, support local production of food, and encourage employment and income generation.
“It is aimed at the provision of a nutritious meal to all pupils in public primary schools in class one to three to achieve this objective, ” the minister stressed.
She proceeded to explain that the engagement exercise was aimed at capturing new pupils under the second batch of the programme as those on the first batch would be laid off by September when they advanced into class four.
The Minister commended the state government for its support and cooperation for the successful implementation of the programme.
In a remark, the state’s Programme Manager, Hajiya Fatsuma Accama, said that 106,797 pupils were enrolled under the programme across the 17 Local Government Areas of the state.
Accama added that some 215 cooks were engaged under the programme and provided with kitchen utensils by the state government.
Yobe state government according to her had also funded monitoring and validation of the cooks, provided pupils with bowls and spoons, and ensured that its nutrition committee designed meals with approval of the national office.
News Live Nigeria gathered that participants of the engagement included the officials of the ministry, NHGSFP Programme Consultant, and representatives of Yobe State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) among other dignitaries.
