FG Targets 50 Million Pupils for Expanded School Feeding Programme by 2026

The Federal Government has announced plans to expand the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme to reach 50 million primary school pupils by the year 2026.

Aderemi Adebowale, National Programme Manager of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

According to Adebowale, the expansion will include pupils in early years (Primary 1 to 3), upper primary levels (Primary 4 to 6), and eventually out-of-school children. She emphasized that the integration of these groups would be implemented in phases.

“Even at N500 per child, you should be able to still give the children a nutritious and delicious meal on a daily basis,” she said.

To manage costs, Adebowale explained that the agency is working with smallholder farmers, aggregators, and supply chain partners to establish fixed pricing models, rather than relying on fluctuating market prices.

“With this alignment, we’ll be able to control prices from the rock bottom. We are not going to be doing market prices,” she noted. “We have to agree on prices with our suppliers, agri-vendors, and farmers to arrive at a reasonable cost per plate. Once we do that, we will follow up on the payment and service delivery.”

NAN recalls that the Federal Government had earlier, on May 27, 2025, launched the Alternate Education and Renewed Hope National Home-Grown School Feeding Project in Abuja. The initiative, targeting 20 million out-of-school and underserved children by 2026, was inaugurated by Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction and current National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The programme is being implemented in collaboration with the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education and the National Identity Management Commission. It is one of the flagship projects under the Renewed Hope agenda to mark President Bola Tinubu’s second anniversary in office.