Vice President Kashim Shettima has disclosed that Nigeria may require an annual budget of about N1 trillion to sustain nationwide coverage of the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.

Shettima made this known at the weekend in Abuja during the National Policy Forum on the Institutionalization and Implementation of the Renewed Hope National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, organized by ActionAid Nigeria.

Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Dr. Tope Fasua, the Vice President stressed that the programme should not be seen as a financial burden but as a nation-building investment with significant social, economic, and security benefits.

“The Federal Government has acknowledged that sustaining national coverage may require around one trillion naira annually. But this is not a cost; it is a nation-building investment with high social, economic, and security returns,” he said.

According to him, the government is committed to ensuring that no Nigerian child learns on an empty stomach and that farmers benefit directly from the prosperity their labour generates.

He recalled the recent launch of the Alternate Education and Renewed Hope School Feeding Project, which targets out-of-school and vulnerable children, with the goal of reaching 20 million by 2026.

Shettima described school feeding as more than a social intervention, noting that it is also a national security strategy. Poverty, hunger, and lack of opportunity, he said, are fertile grounds for extremism and conflict in Nigeria’s fragile regions.

“Every hot meal served in a classroom is a barrier against recruitment into violence, a reinforcement of the state’s presence, and a promise of hope where despair might otherwise take root. If the price of exclusion is insecurity, then the dividend of inclusion is peace,” he added.

The Vice President further disclosed that while the Federal Government is pursuing nationwide coverage, it is also promoting state-level ownership by expanding the programme local government by local government, with priority given to high-poverty, low-enrolment, and conflict-affected areas.

He expressed optimism that by 2026, Nigeria would have hunger-free classrooms, millions of women micro-entrepreneurs formalized and financially included, expanded demand for Nigerian-grown staples sustaining rural incomes, and real-time data systems reducing leakages while boosting public trust.

Shettima also appealed to state governors to demonstrate greater commitment by funding state compacts, aligning procurement with local crops, and ensuring open data for accountability. He urged private sector players to invest in logistics, warehousing, processing, and payment technologies, stressing that the demand is guaranteed and the returns are real.

In his remarks, the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria emphasized that the school feeding programme, when fully institutionalized, would help bridge the nutrition and poverty gap in society.

He, however, called on the Federal Government to secure sustained and ring-fenced financing for the scheme, including statutory contributions through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

He further appealed for increased support from states, the private sector, and development partners, while strengthening community ownership and local sourcing with women and farmers at the centre.

The ActionAid boss urged the government to commit to building a school feeding system that is inclusive, sustainable, and transformative. (The Guardian)