Poultry farmers have urged the Federal Government to continue its National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) to tackle malnutrition and increase school enrolment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NHGSFP is an educational policy initiated by the immediate past administration to increase primary school enrolment.
The programme, which was implemented in public primary schools across the country, was designed to reduce out-of-school children in Nigeria.
Speaking to NAN in separate interviews on Wednesday in Lagos, some poultry farmers urged the government to continue the programme to tackle malnutrition and increase school enrolment.
A member of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) Lagos State Chapter, Mr Shittu Asimi, said the continuation of the school feeding programme would encourage more enrolment in local schools.
“One of the best ways to reduce out-of-school children is the continuation of the school feeding programme commenced by the last administration.
“When the school feeding programme was ongoing, public schools witnessed larger numbers of enrolment thereby reducing the number of out-of-school children,” he said.
According to him, the benefit of having out-of-school children enrol in schools outweighs the cost the government would incur in continuing the programme.
On his part, Mr Joel Oduware, poultry expert and a member of PAN Alimosho, said the school feeding programme would help improve nutrition in the children’s diets.
“The school feeding programme is a good initiative but it has never been implemented in all parts of the country.
“We have only had it work in the north, but not to the full nutritional requirements we had that they proposed,” he said.
He further said the programme was not meant to just fill the stomachs of the children but meant to tackle malnutrition and stunting of children.
“That is why the programme included eggs, poultry meat, fruits, and other supplementary diets in the meals. So, it is not just to feed them, but to improve their nutritional well-being.
“We heard that the continuation of the school feeding programme has been approved by President Bola Tinubu under the administration of the Ministry of Education.
“What may be delaying the programme is the partnership with the state governments so they can partake and make the programme more effective in implementation,” Oduware said.