Mr Ebenezer Teye Addo, Western Regional Minister, has appealed to stakeholders to develop workable proposals for an effective policy to sustain the National School Feeding Programme.

He said the whole idea of school feeding was to provide children in selected primary schools with at least one balanced diet a day, prepared from local foodstuffs, to ensure their physical and intellectual development.

Mr Addo made the call in an address read for him by his Deputy, Mr Alfred Ekow Gyan, at a Regional Consultation and Validation Workshop on the formulation of a National School Feeding Policy at Takoradi on Thursday.

Metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, assembly members and heads of various institutions attended the workshop.

Mr Addo said the Programme had seen a number of reforms since its inception, which had helped transform it from a donor driven intervention to more home grown and locally responsive one.

Mr Addo said the challenges the Programme faced included sustainable financing, institutional partnerships and responsibilities, encouraging ownership by local stakeholders and strengthening the farmer-caterer relationship.

He said within an appropriate policy framework some of these challenges could be addressed.

Mr Emmanuel Agyekum, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, who spoke on the Economic and Social Benefits of the National School Feeding Programme, said the Programme could improve the local economy and reduce hunger and poverty when effectively implemented.

He said the programme could also help achieve nutrition, education and gender equality outcomes.

“In effect, school feeding could be a platform for wider socio-economic benefits,” he said.

Mr Agyekum said the Government and development partners, including the Partnership for Child Development and the World Food Programme, have embarked on formulating the National School Feeding Policy.

Mr Seidu Adamu, National Coordinator of the Programme, noted that about 1,642,271 pupils nationwide are currently benefitting from the programme.

He said the rapid growth of the Programme was not accompanied by the required establishment of robust management and accountability systems.

Mr Adamu said although the Programme was consistent with many development strategies of the Government, there was no policy or legislation that guaranteed its status.

He said he was not happy about the attitude of some district authorities who did not allow regional monitoring teams into their areas and urged the district and school implementation committees to exercise their oversight responsibilities.

Mr Adamu said funds had been released for the payment of outstanding debts to caterers and asked the district authorities to ensure that caterers received the money to ensure the smooth implementation of the Programme.

Dr Esther Offei-Abogye, a Consultant of the Programme, proposed the establishment of a School Feeding Programme Authority for its effective co-ordination and management.