…extends meals to primary six
Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has declared the state’s support for the Federal Government’s home grown school feeding programme.
He said Kwara is joining the programme to tackle school age malnutrition, boost school enrolment, and strengthen local economy through wealth redistribution.
AbdulRazaq said the statistics of stunted and wasted children in the state — until May 2019 the highest in the north central region — is scary and must be reversed to give every child a head start in life.
“I am very passionate about school feeding for our children. This is because the socioeconomic cost of not urgently acting against malnutrition and dwindling school enrolment far outweighs whatever financial commitments we will be making to the programme,” AbdulRazaq said this while declaring open a two-day Stakeholders Workshop on National Home Grown School Feeding Programme in Ilorin, the state capital.
“As at May last year, 33% of our children were stunted while another 7 percent were adjudged as wasted. This is scary. It is something that must be addressed immediately.”
The workshop heralds many great things to expect from the administration, particularly in the areas of human capital development and safety nets for the weak and the poor, he said.
“This meeting has been called to get all the stakeholders on the same page ahead of implementation of the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme in Kwara State. I must also thank the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Sadiya Umar Farouq for her commitment towards the inclusion of the state in the NHGSFP.”
AbdulRazaq also encouraged mothers to prioritise exclusive breastfeeding, assuring Kwarans that the school feeding would boost local economy through patronage of local farmers and entrepreneurs.
“The success of this initiative would depend largely on the implementation committee. This is why I charge you all to ensure that you do everything to make it a success,” he added.
The school feeding programme was originally conceived by the Federal Government for children in primary one to three. Kwara is extending the programme to capture all primary school children in the state — the fourth state to do such comprehensive school feeding after Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, and Osun.
By the time the Kwara school feeding begins later in this third quarter, the state would become the 36th state to key into the programme — including the Federal Capital Territory.