By Danladi Garba
[V]ice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Wednesday that the federal government would not be importing food to implement its school feeding programme.
Speaking while receiving a delegation of the World Food Programme in his office led by its Executive Director, Ms. Ertharin Cousin, Osinbajo said the Home-Grown School Feeding through which primary school pupils would receive one full meal a day would “energise the agriculture base in the state, so that farmers can benefit.”
He said the programme would also create jobs, not only for farmers, but caterers and the entire value-chain would be beneficial to the local communities.
He said the school feeding has already started in some states and the impact is being felt with well-fed students, rise in school enrollment and energized agricultural economies.
He said government would partner with the World Food Programme which is a UN agency in the implementation of the feeding programmes.
“It will be very helpful to look at your best practices, so that we are sure we are on course,” he said.
The Vice President emphasized the importance of such partnership, stressing that “nutrition is important for school children at that tender age.”
In her remarks, leader of the delegation, Ertharin Cousin commended the efforts of the present administration in addressing the plight of IDPs in the North-east.
She also disclosed that the agency was interested in partnering with the federal government in strengthening the school feeding programme as part of its contributions to education.
