Laraba MUREY
As Nigeria joins the rest of Africa to reinforce the importance of school feeding on the continent, the minister, Humanitarian Affairs Disaster and Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq has said the ministry will build 60 model school kitchens across the country.
Farouq, while explaining that the model kitchens will be designed to serve as a capacity building centre for both cooks and vendors under National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, NHGSFP, She disclosed that the Ministry is fulfilling its part with the World Food Programme on reaching more children with nutritious meals as she emphasised on President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive for an additional 1 million children be added to NHGSFP.
Also the ministry will be engaging stakeholders in the food and nutrition sector for support in ensuring compliance with required standards by cooks that are catering for the 9,881,773 pupils
in over 53,000 schools, of which 4.1 million pupils are verified.
Farouq made this known during the Commemoration of the 7th Africa Day of School Feeding,with
the theme “Nutrition and human capital development in Africa through increased investment in home grown school feeding, on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to her, “we shall soon be rolling out new and exciting additions to the programme, all of which constitute an integral part and parcel of the strengthening process that the Ministry is committed to. To this end, we are currently working on a policy framework for the program, and will also be rolling out quality assurance structures, along with the introduction of the concept of School Kitchens to the program in 60 model schools across the Nation.
“These School Kitchens are designed to serve as models, as well as training and skills building centers for cooks and other vendors of the programme.”
She said “The Ministry has also forged viable working partnerships with relevant food and nutrition associations and agencies, such as the Nutrition Society of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to provide the required regulatory oversight and also monitor compliance on hygiene, food safety, and meal quality standards. “
“In addition, the Ministry, in collaborative partnership with the Federal Ministry of Education and other relevant stakeholders, is currently spearheading the planned rollout of the Alternate School Programme (ASP), through which education will expectedly be taken directly to the teeming Out – of – School – Children (OOSCs) at their respective Stations, along with the provision of two free meals from the NHGSFP scheme.”
“The National Home – Grown School Feeding Programme has undoubtedly had a major impact on school children through a significant increase in school enrolment and attendance, along with a corresponding improvement in the nutrition and health status of beneficiary pupils credited to the nutritious meal that is now made freely available to them at their respective schools.
Farouq said “I am pleased to also disclose that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development is already fulfilling its commitments to the NHGSFP as provided in the World Food Progamme Global School Meals Coalition, which is a call to responsive Governments to do more to reach more children with nutritious meals.”
On his part, the National Coordinator, National Social Investment Programme,NSIP, Umar Bindir, stated that “school feeding is not just feeding children but also empowering women in the rural communities where the schools exist, so that they can be able to utilize their entrepreneur skills to ensure their creativity and creation of wealth, thereby, human capital development but it doesn’t stop there Mr president’s creativity on this programme answer to the call of homegrown food materials that come from local farmers within the areas where the school exist. It is changing the landscape of the traditions of Africa where small holders are only for subsistence farming.
Also speaking, Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency- New Partnership for Africa’s Development,AUDA-NEPAD Gloria Akubundu, said “A lot has happened if you take the statistics of where we’re coming from and where we shaping the future, the country assessment report has stated that Nigeria has done beautifully well if in terms of humanitarian services in the recent published African peer review reports”
To mark the day, AUDA-NEPAD Guidelines for Designing and Implementing School Feeding Programme in Africa was launched .
