The Federal
Government, yesterday, said it will commence its National Home Grown
School Feeding Programme with 5.5 million pupils across the country by
September .
The National
Programme Manager, Mrs Abimbola Adesanmi, disclosed this in Abeokuta
during the opening of a two-day stakeholders' workshop on the Ogun State
Home Grown School Feeding Programme.
Adesanmi explained
that the government has resolved to start the programme will accommodate
pupils in Primary 1 to 3 at the outset, and would move to other classes
as the nation's resources improved.
She, however,
explained that all the states of the federation, depending on their
preparedness, would benefit from the social intervention programme.
The state governor,
Senator Ibikunle Amosun, said about 200,000 in Primary 1 to 3 in 1,154
public primary schools in the state would benefit from the initiative.
He added that over
3, 000 women, widows and jobless drawn from across the 236 wards in the
state would be empowered serving as food vendors.
He said, "It's a
well-thought out programme because the unemployed would be engaged. All
the value chains of the agricultural sector would be involved; poultry
producers will sell; the meat sellers will sell their produce and the
agriculture sector will generally get a boost.
"Agricultural
produce that often gets spoilt would now be mopped up and more money
will come into the purse of the average farmer."
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