By Uko Unyime
In recent years, school feeding programmes have become a visible part of Nigeria’s education and social investment strategy. They are often showcased as one of the federal government efforts to reduce out-of-school children, improve child nutrition, and support local economies.
At the heart of this effort is the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), launched in 2016 under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), aimed at providing one free, nutritious meal every school day to each pupil in public primary schools.
On the surface, the intention is sound. Hunger and malnutrition are big barriers to learning. For many Nigerian children, especially in rural and low-income urban communities, that one school meal may be the most substantial food they receive all day. A hungry child is less likely to focus in class, stay healthy, or even attend school.
According to UNICEF, one in three children under five in Nigeria is stunted due to chronic malnutrition. Feeding programmes can be an important intervention to reverse this trend and keep children in school.
The home-grown aspect of the NHGSFP is another appealing feature. It connects the food supply chain to local farmers and vendors, intending to create economic opportunities for women, small scale farmers, and caterers.
As reported by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the programme has employed over 100,000 cooks and sources food items from over five million farmers. This setup not only feeds children but also stimulates local agricultural production and job creation.
However, the challenges are just as real as the promises.
Numerous investigative reports have uncovered systemic issues within the programme: ghost schools, inflated pupil numbers, irregular payments to cooks, and poor quality or outright absence of meals in some schools .
Despite official reports claiming that over nine million children are fed daily, insiders’ accounts tell a different story in many states, where food deliveries are inconsistent or completely halted due to funding gaps or corrupt practices.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 further highlighted the programme’s vulnerability to mismanagement. The federal government claimed to have spent N523 million on a modified version of the school feeding initiative, targeting pupils at home, during the lockdown.
This claim was met with public outrage, as critics questioned the logistics and accountability of feeding children who were no longer in school.
School feeding is often used as a showcase during election campaigns or as evidence of government performance during media briefings. Yet, there is limited independent monitoring, and public access to data remains poor.
A lack of transparency makes it difficult to measure the true impact of the initiative. While the programme has expanded into more states, actual feedback from teachers, parents, and even the children suggest a gap between policy and practice.
In some parts of the world, school feeding is paramount. In India, the Midday Meal Scheme has consistently shown improvements in student attendance and nutritional outcomes.
Brazil’s national school feeding programme has been praised for linking agriculture to education and embedding community participation in its plan. Both countries operate with strict standards for nutrition, hygiene, and balance—components that remain weak points in Nigeria’s system.
In reality, Nigeria’s school feeding programme has the potential to be transformative if properly managed. But as it stands, it feels more like a political checklist than a child-centered strategy.
Without reliable data, consistent implementation, and proper planning, the programme risks losing its credibility and failing the millions of children it was designed to support.
The path forward is not to discard the programme, but to refine it. It should be more community-driven, with schools and local leaders playing an active role in monitoring meals and quality.
Public access to implementation data and expenditure reports would restore some trust and enable civil society to hold authorities accountable.
Most importantly, feeding children must remain a commitment, not a campaign promise. It is an impressive move that the federal government rethinks school feeding.
For a programme this important, good intentions are not enough. What matters is the meal on the plate, not the mention in a press release.
School feeding programmes in Nigeria, specifically the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), have aimed to reduce out-of-school children, improve nutrition, and support local economies.
Launched in 2016 as part of the National Social Investment Programme, it provides a nutritious meal daily to public primary school pupils, connecting food supply chains to local farmers and vendors.
Despite claims of over nine million children being fed daily, numerous systemic issues plague the programme, including ghost schools and inflated pupil numbers.
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed further challenges in the programme's management, with questions raised over how funds were allocated to feed children at home during school closures.
Despite its expansion, the initiative is marred by a lack of transparency and ineffective implementation.
There is limited independent monitoring, and public access to data remains poor, highlighting a gap between policy and practice. For the NHGSFP to be transformative, there needs to be an emphasis on consistent planning, accountability, community-driven oversight, and maintaining its focus as a child-centered rather than a politically motivated strategy.
