The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development received Information and Communications Technology (ICT) equipments from the United Nations World Food Programme to support the successful implementation of the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme in Nigeria.
During the handover of the Items in Abuja on the 25th of January 2022, the Country Director, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Ronald Sibanda said โOn behalf of WFP, I am delighted to be here today to handover this ICT equipment and the publication of the Joint Assessment of the National Home-Grown School Feeding Porgramme that we conducted togetherโ.
The items which include; 150 Nos. of Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.4, 8Nos. of Lenovo Thinkpad T480 14 inches, 2 Nos. of Lenovo Monitors 24 inches, 3Nos. HP LaserJet Pro Multifunction M428fdw Wireless Laser Printer, and 3Nos. of Samsung 55 inches LED Smart TV were delivered to the Ministry to help improve, scale up and sustain the School Feeding Programme in Nigeria.
He further stated that since the launch of the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in 2015, the programme has made commendable achievements by providing nutritious meals to 9.8 million pupils in 56,000 public primary schools, engaging and empowering local smallholder farmers and 107,000 cooks nationwide, adding that the programme is now one of the largest School Feeding Progammes in Africa.
While urging Nigeria to share its experience on the School Feeding Programme with other African Countries, Sibanga reiterated the readiness of the World Food Programme to continue to provide technical support and policy advice to the Ministry to achieve the aims and objectives of the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
Receiving the items, the Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq who was represented by the National Coordinator, National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) Engr. Umar Bindir Ph.D appreciated the efforts and contributions of the United Nations World Food Programme noting that it is as index of good partnership and cooperation.
He further stated that partnering with the International Organization as a global brand is an indication that the Ministry is implementing the programme the right way in accordance with the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari and his vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. Adding that the Ministry has carefully selected a team of experts in the implementation of the programme which has radiated its success globally. This success has triggered the World Food Programme to partner with us, he added. He reassured the World Food Programme of the Ministryโs commitment to the successful implementation of the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme.
The tablets provided by the WFP includes access to the SMP Plus โ a free tool to help state Nutrition Officers design nutritious menus for schools. The hardware will not only support the Ministryโs efforts to digitalize its monitoring and evaluation system, but also enable the national roll out of the SMP Plus development by WFP to standardize cost-effective menu development.
