School feeding programme:‘Policy covers 10,832  schools, over 3 million students are fed daily’ — Gender Minister reveals

The Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Lariba Zuweira Abudu has provided an update on the government's school feeding programme, disclosing that it currently covers 10,832 schools and serves over 3 million students daily.

During an interview on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, the Gender Minister addressed concerns raised by caterers of the programme, who have been vocal about delays in receiving payments for their services.

She assured them that her ministry is working tirelessly to expedite the payment process, acknowledging that some of the delays are due to the bureaucratic nature of the programme.

Explaining the complexities of the payment procedure, she stated, "The school feeding payment has a procedure, and sometimes it is the procedure that delays payment.

“When you take the stakeholders, we have Regional, district, communities, schools; we have Headteachers involved, we have assemblies involved, and it has to go through all these processes."

Providing further details, she revealed that the school feeding programme currently engages 34,350 caterers responsible for preparing meals for 10,832 schools across the country.

She added that the programme ensures that 3,810,491 school children receive food daily as part of the government's efforts to support access to education and improve the nutrition of Ghana's school children.

Minister Lariba Zuweira Abudu expressed her understanding of the challenges faced by the caterers, especially in terms of reimbursement, and urged them to exercise more patience.

She assured them that her ministry is committed to addressing their concerns to receive their payments as soon as possible.