Twelve African countries are meeting in Accra to discuss strategies, share experience and draft a road map to ensure successful implementation of the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in member states.
Over 70 participants from countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Ethiopia, and Malawi are attending the two-day Consultative Meeting jointly organised by the World Food Programme (WFP) and NEPAD to discuss ways to establish new alliances and financial partnership with development partners and donor agencies.
Opening the meeting in Accra on Thursday, Mr Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment said it was unfortunate that the continent remained under-developed despite the abundance in natural resources.
He said to reverse the trend, the government had identified education and human resource development as crucial to respond to economic challenges such as poverty, ignorance and diseases.
Mr Adjei-Darko said it was in that light that Ghana had adopted the School Feeding Programme to encourage more children to enroll in school and at the same time boost the agriculture sector.
The Minister noted that using agriculture produce of the local farmers was therefore commendable to ensure ready market for farmers and to help improve their income to reduce household poverty in rural communities.
He said the Programme would therefore not be an advantage to the educational sector alone but in the promotion of child health to reduce malnutrition, child mortality rates as well as other diseases that retard their growth and development.
He noted that supporting local farmers would also help avoid post harvest loss to ensure food security, eradicate hunger and poverty, which were threats to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
Mr Adjei-Darko called for inter-sectoral collaboration among all implementing agencies, adding, " We need to forge ahead despite all threats, because the benefit of this Programme was enormous".
Sharing Ghana's experience on the Programme, Dr. Kwame Amoako Tuffour, Executive Chairman for the Ghana School Feeding Programme said Ghana was supporting some industries to venture into the agro-processing industry in order to provide a ready market for local produce and meet demands of the Programme.
He said the country was also supporting rice farmers and millers to enable them to meet the demands and help cut down on foreign exchange on the importation of rice.
He stated that the Secretariat in collaboration with the Ministry of Health had also introduced periodic de-worming exercise for the children and provide mosquito nets to prevent malaria infections.
The Executive Chairman said the Secretariat was also ensuring the provision of potable water to rural communities and encouraging school farming so that the children could plant their own fruits and vegetables to meet nutritional requirements.
He said Government also hoped to establish a Trust Fund to provide the needed resources for the project and called for direct assistance from donor agencies and development partners in the area of research development, finance and monitoring.
Dr. Amoako stated that there was also the need for legislations, action plan and other programmes to sensitize farmers on best practices and encourage the youth to develop interest in the agriculture sector.
Mr. Roland Sibanda, WFP Liaison Director to the African Union and Economic Commission for Africa called on governments to support the political will to ensure full implementation of the Programme.
He said governments should not only concentrate on funding from international community but also rely on local resources first.
Mr Sibanda said Ghana was a leader in African Unity and should therefore lead the campaign to ensure success.
The NEPAD Home Grown School Feeding Programme is an initiative to provide meals to pupils to increase school enrolment and promote child nutritional needs by purchasing locally produced food to boost the agricultural sector on the continent.