FG commences enumeration of pupils on school feeding programme

The Federal Government has commenced the enumeration of beneficiaries of the National Social Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) across the country.

The successful conduct of the enumeration exercise is expected to help scale up the number of beneficiaries from the present 9 million pupils to 15 million pupils by 2023, in line with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.

This disclosure was made by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, at the flagging of the NHGSFP enumeration exercise on Monday, July 5, 2021, in Lokoja, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

Farouq, who was represented by a Deputy Director in the ministry, Mrs Patience Achor, said that the objective of the ongoing exercise was to have database of the beneficiaries adding that the programme, which covered public primary school pupils in classes 1 to 3, had been of huge benefits to some sectors.

What the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs is saying

Farouq said, “More than nine million pupils benefit from one free nutritious meal a day during school term nationwide and now, we have the mandate to reach additional five million pupils by 2023.

With over 100,000 cooks employed and more than 100,000 small-holder farmers participating in the value chain, NHGSFP is a serious potential for socio-economic development and it needs to be strengthened, scaled up and sustained nationwide.’’

She said that verifying the existing number of beneficiaries on the programme and updating their records will guarantee effectiveness, transparency and accountability.

Speaking at the event, the Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs, Mr Danjuma Atta, said that the objective was to have a database of beneficiaries from 2016 till date, adding that it will enhance credible budgeting process and good policy formulation.

What you should know

• The enumeration exercise across the states in the country is expected to authenticate the number of beneficiaries.
• The Federal Government had a few days ago, announced that it will enrol an additional 5 million pupils into its NHGSFP by 2023 with the new intakes adding to the existing over 9 million pupils, who are already benefiting from the programme.
• The NHGSFP is a government-led N70 per day school feeding programme that aims to improve the health and educational outcomes of public primary school pupils.
• It can be recalled that the Federal Government in May, said that it is repackaging the country’s national school feeding programme for more impact in the educational sector.