The fate of over nine million pupils hangs in the balance as uncertainty clouds the Federal Government?s National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).

The programme?s uncertain future, with the end of H1 2025, threatens the livelihoods of over 250,000 individuals, including cooks, farmers, and other stakeholders, who depend on it for income.

Before its suspension in January 2024, the programme had created about 34,869 direct jobs for cooks and other staff involved in the food preparation and distribution process.

It indirectly supports the livelihoods of an estimated 80,000 farmers, 127,000 food vendors, and 100 aggregators across 30 states. The scheme aimed at enhancing the health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes of pupils by providing them with nutritious meals, encouraging school attendance towards improved educational outcomes.

Recall that the current administration, in January 2024, suspended all programmes administered by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), including the Home Grown School Feeding Programme, after the then Chief Executive Officer of NSIPA, Halima Shehu, was suspended over alleged financial malfeasance. Tinubu later suspended the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu.

Though a panel was set up to review the programme in 2024, the initiative is yet to commence 18 months after its withdrawal. Findings, however, revealed that the government has continued to make a budget for the initiative, with N160 billion set aside for the scheme in the N54.9 trillion 2025 budget.

A breakdown of the amount showed that while N100 billion is under the Service Wide Vote (SVW) and domiciled in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, the Ministry of Education will oversee another N60 billion for the feeding of primary school pupils.

But rising inflation rates have cast a shadow over the timely implementation of the scheme. Not only that, the increasing costs of food, transportation, and other essential components of the programme have raised concerns that the N160 billion budgetary allocation may no longer be sufficient to support its objectives.

The programme got N100 billion budget in 2024, and a far cry from the estimated N540 billion required to feed 10 million schoolchildren, with concerns on its sustainability in the face of galloping inflation.

The Guardian earlier reported that the N70 per day meal was raised to N100. It is still unclear how a N100 meal will fetch one pupil a nutritious meal. For instance, an egg now sells for N250 (about N50 when the scheme started, and N150 in 2024). With an egg-a-day projection and galloping inflation, the government might run out of cash sooner than later before the budget reaches the halfway line.

A recent food prices survey by The Guardian indicated that prices of commodities have more than doubled, making people worry about when the school feeding programme will be reactivated and how the scheme will be funded.

Recent price checks revealed that a bag of rice (50kg) that sold for N26,000 in early 2023, N100,000 in 2025 and now costs N85,000. Therefore, if the Federal Government previously paid N100 million for bags of rice, to do so this year will require three times that amount. For garri (50kg), it was N18,000 in 2023 and now sells for N45,000; yam tuber that previously sold for N450 last year will cost twice the price to buy now, and beans sold for N28,000 in 2023, currently sells for N75,000 per bag.

Stakeholders maintain that as inflation continues to erode the purchasing power of allocated funds, the programme?s administrators may be forced to either reduce the scope of the initiative or delay its implementation until additional funding can be secured.

A stark illustration of the escalating prices can be seen in the cost of a single egg, which has surged dramatically from N120 in 2024 to N250, representing a whopping 108 per cent increase.

According to stakeholders, the delayed implementation of the programme could have far-reaching consequences, including exacerbating the already alarming number of out-of-school children, which the United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF) puts at 20 million, as well as bring about decreased programme participation rates, reduced nutritional benefits for students, and diminished economic benefits for local farmers and communities, ultimately perpetuating cycles of poverty and food insecurity.

It would be recalled that during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, the NHGSFP faced significant challenges, as the absence of food vendors, poor-quality food, small portions, and non-payment to vendors threatened its sustainability.

Additional probes uncovered a disturbing discovery when approximately N2.67 billion earmarked for school feeding programmes in Unity colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic was instead found in personal bank accounts. This sparked serious concerns about embezzlement and gross financial mismanagement.

Before now, the NSIPA had been embroiled in a prolonged corruption scandal and inefficiency in the distribution process. This development cast a shadow over the agency?s operations for several months, raising concerns about the misuse of funds, lack of transparency, and potential embezzlement.

These corruption allegations created uncertainty and undermined public trust in the programme, highlighting the need for greater accountability and oversight.

Data obtained from a government document titled ?Investing in Our People,? revealed that the programme feeds over nine million pupils in 52,604 schools across 30 states.?

Last August, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed the government?s plan to relaunch the suspended scheme.

During a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Alternative Education, Edun reaffirmed the administration?s commitment to strengthening education, noting that: ?Feeding schoolchildren would not only improve their health and wellbeing, but also incentivise them to remain in school, thereby reducing the number of out-of-school children.?

In an interview, a public affairs analyst, Akinsola Olotu, expressed concerns that a delay in implementing the programme could undermine the government?s efforts to address the pressing issues of out-of-school children, hunger, and malnutrition in the country.

He stressed that this could lead to decreased participation rates, reduced nutritional benefits for students, and diminished economic benefits for local farmers and communities, ultimately exacerbating the existing challenges that the programme intended to address.

According to Olotu, parents may be less inclined to send their children to school without the incentive of a free meal.

?The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme is a crucial intervention that not only provides nutritional benefits to students, but also stimulates local economic growth. Any further delay in its implementation would be counterproductive to the government?s efforts to address the pressing issues of out-of-school children, hunger, and malnutrition. The programme?s objective is to improve school enrollment and completion, while also supporting local farmers and communities.

?By delaying its implementation, we risk undermining the progress made so far and exacerbating the existing challenges. The government must prioritise the programme?s implementation to ensure that millions of Nigerian children continue to benefit from this initiative.?

Also, the National Mobilisation Officer, Education Rights Campaign, Michael Adaramoye, underscored the need for the government to ensure its swift implementation.

?It is surprising that despite earmarking billions for the programme, there is no sign of taking off. We charge the government to weigh in and ensure swift implementation.

?This will also mean constituting the board to involve concerned unions and associations like the Parent-Teacher Association, and National Union of Teachers, to ensure that stakeholders are involved and the board democratised to prevent corrupt practices. He tasked the government to focus on infrastructural development in schools to make teaching and learning environments conducive.

An educator, Kenneth Obiorah said a delay in implementing the programme would result in missed opportunities for economic growth and development in rural communities.

He pointed out that the programme?s absence could result in higher school dropout rates, as pupils may struggle to focus on their studies due to hunger and malnutrition, worsening the out-of-school children syndrome.

?When initiatives like this are stalled, rural areas are deprived of the potential benefits of investment, innovation, and progress. This could worsen existing disparities between urban and rural areas, perpetuating cycles of poverty and underdevelopment.?

Besides, Obiorah noted that delayed implementation can also lead to brain drain, as talented individuals may seek opportunities elsewhere, rather than waiting for projects to materialise in their communities.

?Ultimately, timely implementation is crucial to unlocking the economic potential of rural areas and fostering a more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities,? he added.

On inflation, Obiorah called on stakeholders, including policymakers, educators, and community leaders, to come up with innovative strategies to cover the deficit and ensure the smooth take-off of the scheme.

Efforts to get the Federal Ministry of Education to shed light on factors that are stalling the re-commencement of the NHGSFP proved abortive, as the Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade, promised to get an official in the Ministry to speak to comment on the matter. (The Guardian)

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