Official says programme will reduce poverty in Nigeria

The Federal government on Monday said the Home Grown School Feeding Programme will reduce poverty through the engagement of farmers across the country.

Mrs Abimbola Adesanmi, National Programme Manager in the Office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbanjo, made the disclosure during a Technical Section of the programme for stakeholders in Minna.

According to her: ”It is very important for the state governments to understand the framework and guidelines for the programmes to be successful.

“The programme will serve as a motivation that will encourage children enrolment in school in spite of the level of poverty and hunger.

“The objective of the programmes is to produce food locally within the community for children to feed. It will encourage our farmers to produce food for consumption,” she said.

Adesanmi, however, urged the state government to come up with a policy framework for the successful implementation of the programme in the state.

In addition, Mrs Afiniki Dauda, Special Adviser to Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger on Empowerment and Social Protection, called on the stakeholders to key into the programme for efficiency.

“We cannot afford to fail like other states that started the programme and stopped in the process. We need stakeholders support. All Council Chairmen and stakeholders should ensure proper monitoring of the programme in their domain,” she said.