The National Program Manager of Renewed Hope National Home Grown School Feeding and End Hunger Program (RH-NHGSFEHP), Engr. Mrs Anjor Obande, has said the introduction of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)’s Enhancing Access to Safe and Nutritious Diets (ENSAND) project is to improve and expand beneficiaries of the programme.
Speaking at the launching the GAIN ENSAND Project on Wednesday in Abuja, Obande said the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, and the National Coordinator, National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Hajia Halima Shehu, have expressed their unalloyed support towards the partnership with GAIN.
She added that Edu and Shehu looked forward to a fruitful working relationship with GAlN, especially on the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
“Home-Grown School Meals has the potential to significantly contribute to enhancing food and nutrition security in households and communities all over the country, through coordinated, multi-sectoral, and consolidated efforts and partnership,
“The administration of President Bola Tinubu is committed to restructuring the programme in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda towards ending poverty, reducing the number of out-of-school children and eliminating malnutrition in school Age children.
“Recently, at the School Meals Coalition Ministerial Meeting, we committed to expand the programme beneficiaries to include children in military schools, para-military schools, out-of-school children, and children in emergency settings to reach universal coverage by 2025.
“In addition, we have also committed to introducing School Kitchens and Gardens through a Farm-to-Kitchen Initiative, to improve implementation and ensure food system transformation,” she said.
She further explained that the project has identified Small Holder Farmers (SHF) as key linkage and strategy to foster easier and cheaper access to food produced by the cooks/vendors.
“Having considered the objectives and components of GAIN’s ENSAND project, we are recommending a partnership of the NHGSFP SHF Linkage project with the ENSAND project, so that the capacity of the SHF will be strengthened,” she added.
She explained that the RH-NHGSFEHP is establishing a School Meals Basket Fund in accordance with the NHGSFP Policy approved in May, 2023.
Obande called on domestic and international actors and partners to collaborate in ensuring the School Meals Basket Fund is successfully established.
This, according to her, will be a significant investment in the future of Nigerian children, which will contribute to expanding the beneficiaries of the programme and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs).
“With a strengthened partnership with GAIN, this laudable ENSAND project, large-scale-food fortification, improving production capacities of local farmers and institutional capacity building, our goals and objectives can be achieved.
“We at the RH-NHGSFEHP under the auspices of NSIPA with the support of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation will continue to work towards achieving our separate yet mutual objectives.
“These objectives include empowering Nigerians through sustained access to safe and nutritious diets, thereby contributing greatly to the government’s goal of ending hunger and alleviating poverty,” Obande said
