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Osun State, Nigeria furthered its commitment to strengthen the state’s HGSF programme (known as O’Meals) by adopting three technical documents which both assess and outline how to improve the implementation of the programmes. The documents - two case studies, a programme document and an M&E strategy, developed by Imperial College London's Partnership for Child Development (PCD) identify innovative measures that the state has and can introduce into the school feeding programme for its sustainability and productivity to benefit Osun State's development, as well as global learning on the programme.

Read more: Osun State Furthers Commitment to HGSF

Imperial College London’s Partnership for Child Development (PCD) have started looking at how to improve schoolchildren’s health, nutrition and education in Enugu and Anambra States, Nigeria.

On a recent scoping mission, PCD went to see the states’ school feeding programmes in action, where opportunities were identified on how support can be provided to the programmes’ design, implementation and scale up, and how other partners and donors could be engaged with to further strengthen the interventions. 

Read more: PCD Explores New Opportunities in Enugu and Anambra States, Nigeria

Besides the opportunity to learn, children look forward to two things at the beginning of a school year in the The Gambia: reuniting with friends and the daily hot meals that WFP provides to more than 100,000 children, thanks to the European Union.

FARAFENNI – Just outside the back gate of Yalal-Ba Lower Basic School is an empty piece of land: the school farm, which unfortunately could not be cultivated during this cropping season due to lack of rain. This area of The Gambia, the North Bank region, is amongst the most food-insecure and vulnerable areas in the country. Drought has been chronic, especially during the last two years. Malnutrition is prevalent, with rates above 10 percent. WFP provides daily mid-morning meals to students between the ages of 4 - 14 made of rice, salt, peas and oil. Beneficiaries under the school feeding programme are also supported through school gardens, which serve as a learning centre and also a source of vegetables and fruits to supplement the children’s diet.

Read more: The Gambia - HGSF Making it Work!

Osun State’s Home Grown School Feeding programme has launched a new pilot to combat vitamin A deficiency in Nigerian schoolchildren at the same time as promoting the livelihoods of local farmers.

Over 4,000 pupils are currently being fed Orange Flesh Sweet Potatoes (OFSP) – a crop highly rich in vitamin A, as well as being popular among the children. 

 “I really enjoy the meals and I want to be eating it every day,” commented six year old, Abdul Kadri, beneficiary of the programme.

Read more: Osun State’s Home Grown School Feeding Fights Vitamin A Deficiency