The federal government says the home grown school feeding
programme will commence on May 14.
The programme seeks to provide food for beneficiaries of
school feeding programme while they stay at home.
While imposing a lockdown on Lagos, Ogun and Abuja on March
29, President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the ministry of humanitarian
affairs, disaster management and social development, to liaise with state
governments and develop strategies for the continuation of the school feeding
programme.
In a statement on Monday, the ministry said the programme
will commence in Abuja followed by Lagos and Ogun before it is implemented in
the other states of the federation.
It said the target beneficiaries as children in primary 1 to
3 in public schools participating in the programme.
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster
Management and Social Development will commence the Home-Grown School Feeding
Programme on Thursday May 14, 2020 in Abuja and subsequently in Lagos and Ogun
states before the other states of the federation,” the statement read.
“The Ministry in consultation and collaboration with state
governments identified the distribution of Take-Home Rations (THR) to the
households of the children on the programme as a feasible method of achieving
this directive after exploring several options. This is a globally accepted
means of supporting children to continue to have access to nutrient rich foods
despite disruptions to the traditional channels of school feeding.
“The Ministry has requested states to carry out mapping
exercises in order to trace the households of the children using all available
data sources including the School Based Management Boards, community focal
persons, cooks on the programme and most importantly existing school registers
in the LGAs where the schools are domiciled, which is the primary source of
data of beneficiaries used by the National Home Grown School Feeding
Programme.”
The ministry said each household will receive uncooked food
items that have been assessed and approved by nutrition experts as adequate for
the children.
It further disclosed that 6,000 schools will serve as
distribution centers for clusters of communities “except in some states with
unique security and safety issues where other structures will be used.”
“The Ministry is receiving Technical Support from the World
Food Programme (WFP). Following on the technical partnership with the WFP, a
joint document on “Safe Distributions during COVID” has been developed and will
be shared with the State Governments before implementation,” it read.
“Each household will receive a Take-Home Ration valued at
N4,200 and made up of 5 kg Bag of Rice, 5 kg Bag of Beans, 500 ml Vegetable
Oil, 750 ml Palm Oil, 500 mg Salt, 15 pcs of eggs, 140gm Tomato Paste. These
rations have been reviewed by nutrition experts to ascertain the nutritional
value and benefit to the children.
“As an extra layer of monitoring the Ministry has requested
other agencies of government including the DSS, EFCC, ICPC, Code of Conduct
Bureau and a host of NGOs and CSOs to help monitor. The Ministry’s hotlines
will be made available to the public to provide accurate information and for
grievance redress.”
The ministry urged Nigerians to support the poor and less
privileged, adding that the federal government’s resources are insufficient to
cater for all.
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