The Presidency has launched the Value for Money (VFM) project aimed at delivering nutritious meals to primary schoolchildren nationwide.
Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on School Feeding, Dr Yetunde Adeniji, who disclosed this in a statement, said that the project would assess the impact recorded so far on the National Home-Grown School Feeding programme in the country.
Adeniji disclosed that the study is being conducted in partnership with Imperial College London, United Kingdom (UK); Harvard University, United States (U.S.) and the Partnership for Child Development.
The SSA, who stated that the VFM will help determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the programme in delivering nutritious meals to school children across the country, explained that the study would be carried out in selected states in the country, adding the parameters for each state selection would be done in line with global best practices.
She said the objectives of the study, which would be forensically analysed by local and foreign experts, led by the renowned Prof. Lesley Drake, include the effectiveness and impact of school feeding programmes towards improving student attendance and academic performance, cost-effectiveness analysis of school feeding programme in Nigeria thus far and comparing the benefits of investing in school feeding versus other education interventions.
It also entails, according to her, the evaluation of the nutritional impact of school feeding programme on Nigerian students’ health and wellbeing, assessment of the sustainability of school feeding programme in Nigeria, including the long-term impact on students’ educational outcomes and nutritional status and exploration of innovative funding mechanisms for school feeding programme in Nigeria, such as public-private partnerships or social impact bonds.
Furthermore, the research would focus on the potential for scaling up school feeding programme, among others.
Adeniji added that the collaboration is coming at the right time, as the Federal Government is restructuring the programme, noting that the VFM study will be vital in enhancing the impact and sustainability of the school feeding programme through recommendations from economic, agricultural, social welfare and academic professionals.
She, however, expressed enthusiasm about the number of youth population in Nigeria who would be engaged as enumerators during the study, and also receive adequate training as well as financial benefits through receipt of weekly allowance for the period of the study.
