ActionAid calls for extension of school feeding programmes to all primary school pupils

ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) has called on the Federal Government to extend the Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) to all pupils of primary schools across the country.

Mrs Ene Obi, Country Director of the organisation said this at the Launch and Dissemination of the Third Party Monitoring Report of the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP).

AAN in partnership with the National Social Investment Office (NSIO) with support from DFID- Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn(PERL) and the Ford Foundation worked on the Third-party Monitoring on the implementation of the NSIP.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NSIP of the Federal Government falls within three groups: Home Grown School Feeding Programme, Government Economic Enterprise Programme and N-Power.

Obi said the extension should include pre-primary classes and classes 4 to 6.

She added that the Federal Government should also introduce additional incentives into the programme such as notebooks, school bags and stationery in addition to providing meals for school children.

According to the country director, the National Social Investment Office (NSIO) of the government should liaise with relevant ministries for the construction of additional classrooms.

She said since the home grown school feeding programmes had increased enrolment, there was need to provide more infrastructural development that comes with the constraints of the enrolment.

” The social investment Programme of the government has so far created a ripple effect towards the educational, agricultural and the health sectors of Nigeria.

“There was reported increase in the learning reception by school children as well as enrolment in schools because the home grown school feeding programme gives the students access to have one meal a day.

“Parents of these children also form part of the secondary beneficiaries under the programme as well as livelihood that has been created for cooks and food vendors.

She added that such benefits was also created for -Power Programme where unemployed Nigerians were engaged in different government institutions to receive stipends for their services.

She explained that this had further reduced the rate of unemployment within the period of N-Power implementation.
Obi also lauded the efforts of the government for the introduction and implementation of the social investment Programme in a bid to lift the vulnerable poor out of poverty the evading inequality in the society.

She said despite the positive outcomes the NSIP had provided, gaps had been identified which must be addressed urgently.

Obi noted that lack of community monitoring during implementation, grossly poor records tracking and management and lack of coordination among others were the challenges of the Programme.

She also noted that the issue of fund released was another major challenge hindering the growth of the Programme.

According to her, so far N 463 billion had been released out of the N 1.3 trillion expected to be spend for the Programme.

” In 2006, out of the N500 billion appropriated only N80 billion was released which is about 16 03 per cent. In 2017, of the N400billion appropriated, only N155 billion was released which is about 38.75 per cent.

“Also in 2018, N400 billion was appropriated for NSIP but about N228 billion was released which is 57.04 per cent.”

She, however, called on Nigerians to get involved not only as beneficiaries but also report any wrong doing against the programme for a maximum impact.

Obi, therefore, called for the institutionalisation of some of the National Investment Programmes that have been proven most impactful to ensure their continuity without being affected by change in government.

Meanwhile, Mrs Maryam Uwais, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment Programme, said the Federal Government is doing a lot of impact evaluation to know the narrative to engage the people.

Uwais said that currently, over 12 million Nigerians have benefited directly from the programmes with the empowerment of 500,000 graduates and 26, 000 indirect beneficiaries as well as a lot of households benefiting from the programme.

She said the release of the monies which is dependent on the income generated by the government on monthly basis sometimes get delayed and not sufficient for the numbers captured to benefit from the programmes.

She therefore said there was need for community engagement to make the process a wholesome empowerment project.

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