FG to recommence school feeding scheme February

The Federal Government (FG) has disclosed that it would restart the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in various parts of the country by February this year.

Sadiya Umar Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development made this known, yesterday, January 18, 2021, in Abuja at the 4th annual review of the scheme.

“We are commencing the school feeding scheme immediately school resumes. We normally do the payment in the third week of the month. So, before the third week of February, we will be able to achieve some of these things. And we will be able to see an increment in school enrollment,” she said.

According to Farouk, an additional five million school children, including children in non-conventional educational settings, would be added to the scheme, adding that, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had been added to NHGSFP, while Kwara State would be included in the coming months.

“Plans have been concluded for the transition of the N-power batch A and B through the creation of the NEXT portal, which would allow those who choose to sign up to access other government empowerment opportunities.

"A beneficiary management system for the NSIPs is expected to be deployed in 2021 which would have the capacity to manage payments, address grievances and improve the dissemination of information,” she said.

Abdulkareem Suleiman, the NHGSFP programme manager in Kogi State, identified a lack of logistics, communication gap and poor funding as some of the challenges faced by the organisation.

He appealed to the FG to increase funding and communication channels with state governments in order to achieve the aim of the scheme.