Mr Gab Okulaja, the Programme Manager of the Home Grown School Feeding Programme in Cross River, on Wednesday said the Federal Government was still passionate about the programme.
Okulaja made the assertion in Calabar when a team from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management visited the state to enumerate the beneficiaries and vendors to enhance the programme.
He noted that the ministry embarked on the exercise to enable it to improve funding, adding that more schools in the state would be included in the next phase of the programme.
“The Federal Government is still passionate about the programme; currently, we have 286,511 children across 1,000 schools in the state participating.
“There are 433 cooks, 18 bakeries and 18 farms involved. Over 5,000 crates of eggs are used per feeding.
“I think this is good for the local economy, although we couldn’t handle it during the COVID-19 period in 2020,” he stated.
Speaking at Calabar Preparatory International School, Mrs Elizabeth Odu, the Team-lead from the ministry, stressed that the federal government was targeting nine million children across the country under the programme.
Odu stated that the team was also monitoring the quality and quantity of food supplied to the children under the programme.
“We are targeting nine million children in Nigeria. Currently, we are capturing data on schools, with a view to improving the programme next year,” she said.
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However, Mrs Esther Afia, the Deputy Head Teacher of Calabar Preparatory International School, noted that most times, the food vendors came with very small quantity of food for the children.
According to Afia, the quality and quantity of the food supplied hardly assuages the hunger in the children who come for it.
“This has continued in recent times and there is need for government to look into the amount of money allocated to the vendors.
“I suppose this is due to the current inflation. Government should please increase the funding to help the vendors improve the quality and quantity of the foods,” she added.
One of the food vendors, Mrs Saida Galadima, said that she supplied food to over 30 children, adding that she started the supply in May, 2017 and it had been interesting.
Galadima however noted that the N70 meal per child was no longer sufficient, going by the current inflation in the country.
“There is dire need for the amount given to us to be increased to tally with the economic situation and it should come as and when due.
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“Sometimes we receive payments once or twice per term, whereas it is supposed to be monthly so as to feed the children daily. In this present scenario how can we cope?” she added.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the programme, saying that they cherished the food. (NAN)
