By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The FCT Minister of State, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, has said that beyond education, the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, (HGSFP) is critical to local agricultural development, as it relies on locally sourced produce, thereby empowering local farmers and strengthening the rural economy.
Mahmoud stated this at an interactive session with stakeholders of the FCT Home-Grown School Feeding Programme across the six area councils in the FCT.
The minister, who was represented by the FCT Focal Person on Social Investment Programme (SIP), Hajia Maijidda Adamu Kuku, explained that the aim of the interactive session was to reflect on the successes of the programme, as well as address the challenges, and chart a sustainable path forward.
She assured that the FCT Administration would continue to do its best within available resources to facilitate the effective operation of the programme by ensuring that stakeholders hold this interactive session regularly to help strengthen the operations and community participation of the programme.
The minister commended the government officials, school administrators, community leaders, farmers, cooks, and development partners, for their invaluable contributions to the success of the programme by ensuring that no school is left behind.
Mahmoud called on stakeholders to contribute innovative ideas, practical solutions, and a spirit of partnership to the stakeholders’ dialogue.
Delivering her goodwill message, Senior Special Assistant to the President on School Feeding Programme, Dr. Yetunde Adeniyi, said that the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme is a flagship initiative of government’ aimed at providing nutritious meals to school children, boosting school enrollment, and enhancing learning outcomes
She emphasized that since its commencement, thousands of children have benefited from daily nutritious meals, leading to increased attendance and retention in schools.
Adeniyi, therefore, called on stakeholders to take up responsibilities and confront challenges head-on to ensure the programme’s continuity and effectiveness.
On her part, the operation officer of the programme in FCT, Hauwa Abubakar, who gave the overview of the stakeholders’ meeting stressed that the dialogue was to get the buy in of the community for better service delivery of the programme through community engagement, increased level of transparency and accountability of the programme and linkage of the programme to other empowerment programmes in the FCT.
Representative of World Food Programme, Agnes Mungatia, in her goodwill message, emphasized the need to strengthen collaboration among all stakeholders.
