Federal Government on Wednesday unveiled plans to provide free meals to all primary school children nationwide by 2030.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq gave the assurance in Abuja, at the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme Policy Stakeholder Validation workshop.
The Minister who was represented by the National Coordinator, National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), Dr. Umar Bindir, said that, though the federal government presently provides free meals to over 10 million Primaries 1-3 children nationwide, the programme has succeeded in lifting thousands of people in the food supply value chain from abject poverty.
She said: “Everybody is aware of the composition of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) into four clusters, aimed at addressing poverty in the country.
“The National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) started in 2016, after the election of President Muhammadu Buhari. After the creation of the Ministry in 2019, the ministry took over the implementation. Kwara and Bayelsa were the only two States that didn’t onboard, but as I speak with you, all 36 states of the country and the FCT are onboarded in the NHGSFP.
“The major objective is to feed children in public primary schools, especially children of the poor. We have hundreds of thousands of women cooking for over 10 million children enrolled in the programme nationwide”, the minister said.
