Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said children benefiting from the Federal Government’s School Feeding Programme have increased to 9.3 million across the country.
Osinbajo made this known in Ado Ekiti while inaugurating the Homegrown School Feeding Programme at St. Michael’s Primary School, Ajilosun.
According to him, Ekiti has become the 31st state to key into the programme, which is now in 56,506 primary schools across the country.
He also said 190,000 farmers now earn a living through the programme by supplying items needed to prosecute it, while 767 cows and 7.3 million eggs are consumed weekly.
The vice president said the programme, apart from shoring up school enrollment, had given a boost to job creation and helped in poverty reduction.
He added that the policy, which he described as a flagship of the All Progressives Congress-led government, remains one of the four cardinal objectives of the empowerment and social investment policy of the present government.
Osinbajo also lauded Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti for keying into the programme, saying it would not only increase enrollment in schools but also ensure regular attendance.
“The aim of this government is to provide food for our young pupils to make them focused in school and solve the problem of malnutrition in our children.
“The Federal Government decided to introduce this programme to turn around the agriculture sector by patronising the products of our farmers.”
