Government will improve delivery and quality of the School Feeding Program – Naa Momo Lartey

The Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection-designate, Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has pledged the government's commitment to enhancing the quality and accessibility of the Ghana School Feeding Program (GSFP), while ensuring timely payments to caterers.

During her vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, Naa Momo Lartey emphasised the significance of the program and assured its effective implementation.

"I think the School Feeding Program is something that all of us appreciate because if a child is not properly fed, it affects the concentration in class. And so, for the highest, I would say it's a good project that we intend to improve. On the other side of it, is the processes leading to the feeding, ensuring that there's quality and also accessibility and timeliness in terms of the supply is also very important. And so, these are areas that I'll look at improving and then adding on,” she remarked.

She also pointed out the need for decentralising the program to guarantee the timely delivery of food items to schools.

"Part of my life is also in local governance and so it comes with decentralisation. And I believe that if you're able to effectively decentralise the feeding program as we are also looking at it, [it] will help us to ensure that it is supplied on time - the food items are supplied on time, and then also we can keep an eye on the quality from the district level," she explained.

The Member of Parliament of Krowor also underscored her intention to collaborate with key stakeholders to improve the program’s efficiency.

"I'll be glad to sit with all stakeholders involved to look at how this implementation will work out so that the beneficiaries have the best of it and then also support those who are the service providers to do what is right," she stated.

Introduced in 2005, the GSFP was designed to increase school enrollment and improve retention.

Despite its notable benefits, the program has faced challenges, including delayed payments to caterers, which often leads to protests.

Watch the video below:

You can also watch the latest compilation of Twi news below:



JKB/AE