FG seek revitalisation of home-grown school feeding program

…decry inadequate financing for nutrition programs

In a bid to address the cases of malnutrition while promoting good agricultural practices and nutrition programs, the Federal Government, alongside key Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), has called for an immediate reversal in the declining implementation of the National Home-Grown School Feeding Program and structured youth agricultural initiatives.

The resolution was part of a communique issued at the conclusion of a two-day quarterly coordination meeting of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on the National Food Systems Transformation Pathways, held in Abuja.

The meeting, convened by the Food and Nutrition Department of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP), brought together stakeholders from the private sector, academia, research institutes, and development partners to review progress and chart a sustainable path forward for Nigeria’s food security.

Speaking during the event, Deborah Odoh, Permanent Secretary of the FMBEP, emphasised the need for Nigeria to build food systems that are sustainable, resilient, inclusive and capable of delivering improved livelihoods and nutrition for all.

Odoh, who was represented by Joseph Ikpeamaeze, Director of Social Development at the ministry, noted that the meeting was critical to re-innovating implementation momentum across government agencies ahead of the upcoming National Convergence Initiative.

The TWG decried the decline in the implementation of the national home-grown school feeding program and structured youth agricultural empowerment initiative, and therefore called for a reversal.

They called for a stronger and more formalised Food Systems Transformation Pathways coordination mechanism to be established, with clear mandates and accountability frameworks spanning federal, state and local government levels.

On financing and private sector engagement, the meeting called for the alignment of policy implementation with coordinated financing mechanisms to deliver actionable and bankable outcomes.

In addition, States and local governments were urged to demonstrate concrete financial commitments to the Food Systems Transformation Pathways beyond policy endorsement.

“The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) was called upon to implement concrete measures to make agriculture economically viable at the grassroots through market and land access improvement, input cost reduction to attract women and youth in the agriculture sector.

“On nutrition, Food safety and consumer protection, the meeting advocated for consumer awareness campaigns on the identification of unsafe and substandard foods should be scaled up nationally, led by the National Food, Drug and Administration Control (NAFDAC), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare,” the communique issued at the end of the meeting read.

The meeting stressed that nutrition financing remains inadequate and thus called for an improvement if states transformational goals are to be achieved.

They also called for food safety standards and regulatory enforcement to be strengthened at all points of the food supply chain.