School Feeding: FG launches VFM project, pledges delivery of nutritious meals

By Jude Opara, Abuja

To realize the aim of delivering nutritious meals to primary school children across the country, the presidency has launched the Value For Money (VFM) project in Abuja.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on School Feeding, Dr Yetunde Adeniji who made this known in a statement, explained that the project will assess the impact recorded so far on the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in Nigeria.
Adeniji disclosed that the study is being conducted in partnership with Imperial College London, United Kingdom, Harvard University, United States of America and the Partnership for Childs Development.
She stated that the VFM will help determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the programme in delivering nutritious meals to school children and that the study would be carried out in selected states in the country, adding that the parameters for selection would be done in line with global best practices.
According to her, the objective of the study which would include; the effectiveness and impact of school feeding programmes towards improving student attendance and academic performance, cost-effectiveness analysis of school feeding programme in Nigeria thus far and comparing the benefits of investing in school feeding versus other education interventions.
“It also entails the evaluation of the nutritional impact of school feeding program on Nigerian students’ health and well-being, assessment of the sustainability of school feeding program in Nigeria, including the long-term impact on students’ educational outcomes and nutritional status and exploration of innovative funding mechanisms for school feeding program in Nigeria, such as public-private partnerships or social impact bonds.
“Furthermore, the research would focus on the potential for scaling up school feeding programmes to reach more Nigerian students in need, while maintaining quality and value for money, research on the role of school feeding programmes in addressing broader development goals, such as poverty reduction, gender equality, and social inclusion, analysis of the policy environment for school feeding programmes, including the role of government regulations and support for implementing and monitoring programme effectiveness, amongst many others.”