The Federal Government is to adopt a public-private partnership (PPP), to achieve sustainable funding of the school feeding programme recently reintroduced in Nigeria.
Senior Special Assistant to the President Bola Tinubu on school feeding, Dr Yetunde Adeniji, made this known in Abuja at the ongoing two-day stakeholders meeting on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) innovative financing to enhance financial investment in school feeding in Africa.
She said there was a need to explore the potential of public-private partnerships as a viable solution, noting that PPPs provide a unique opportunity for governments, private entities, and other stakeholders to come together, pool resources, and create sustainable funding models for school feeding programmes.
She added by combining the strengths and expertise of different sectors, Nigeria could achieve a far greater impact and change lives for the better.
Adeniji said it was crucial to acknowledge the importance of school feeding programmes in Africa as the initiatives have a significant impact on the educational, nutritional, and overall development of children across the continent.
She said implementing and sustaining these programmes can be quite challenging due to financial constraints and resource limitations.
According to her, the stakeholders were brought together from various sectors, including governments, private businesses, non-profit organizations, and financial institutions to find innovative solutions to address the funding gaps, leverage investments, and ensure the sustainability and scalability of school feeding programs in Africa.
“Today, we are here to explore the potential of Public-Private Partnerships as a viable solution. PPPs provide a unique opportunity for governments, private entities, and other stakeholders to come together, pool resources, and create sustainable funding models for school feeding programs.
“By combining the strengths and expertise of different sectors, we can achieve far greater impact and change lives for the better,” she said.
Representative of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Nkiruka Owenum, expressed the willingness of the agency to support the Nigerian government for the success of school feeding.
“As the school feeding Programme is being reconsidered to include public and private partnerships it is important for us to know that the school feeding Programme will boost local economy, supporting local farmers.
“School Feeding is also an opportunity to strengthen the educational system. It will ensure that children come to school and that they stay in school. We will be involved in this conversation,” she said.
Also speaking, the representative of the World Bank, Dr. Tunde Adekola said the bank is very interested in supporting the school feeding programmes.
He noted that the Bank was already running other programmes to help Nigeria in the education sector, emphasizing on the need to focus to ensure that the school feeding improves access and ensures that there is a feed very well and a balanced diet.
“We are willing to support the government of Nigeria to achieve this objective. As far as the World Bank is concerned, we are running other programmes that will help Nigeria in the education sector.
“The World Bank is ready to support the government to leverage and focus on the result of what school feeding should be able to achieve. We need to focus to ensure that this school feeding improves access and has a balanced nutrition for our children and ensures that they feed very well and get a balanced diet,” he added.
The Secretary General, National Commission for UNESCO, Nigeria, Dr. Lateef Olagunju said they were solidly behind the initiative.
He, therefore, called for the involvement of state, federal and local government actors in putting together the steering committee and ensuring the recruitment of cooks to include mothers of the children.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
