In a bid to revamp the Nigerian Home Grown School Feeding Programme, the federal government has initiated collaboration with the Partnership for Child Development (PDC) and Imperial College, London. This move comes following President Bola Tinubu’s suspension of all National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) programmes, including the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, for six weeks to investigate alleged malfeasance.

Yetunde Adeniji, the senior special assistant to the president of the Home Grown School Feeding Programme, disclosed the partnership during a stakeholders’ workshop in Abuja. The workshop aimed to launch the Value for Money Study, which seeks to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and socio-economic impact of the school feeding scheme, aligning with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Action plans.

The study, fully sponsored by the Imperial College, will commence in Kaduna and Osun states before extending to six states representing each geopolitical zone of the country. It aims to assess the programme’s effectiveness in improving student attendance and academic performance while providing insights to enhance its implementation and garner support from international partners and development agencies. Through primary and secondary data collection methods, including input from stakeholders such as schools, state ministries, and community members, the study aims to enhance the efficiency and impact of the school feeding programme across all 36 states of Nigeria.