Representatives from Kano State, Nigeria’s Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMA&RD) recently attended a workshop focused on redesigning Kano State Nigeria’s school feeding programme into a structured HGSF model.

The workshop, held on December 5 organised by the Partnership for Child Development (PCD) and the Kano State's Community Reorientation Committee (CRC) looked at the potential benefits and opportunities of HGSF in the State and focused on linking ministries with various technical capacities to ensure optimal programme efficiency.

Kano State's Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Baraka Sanni stated that “Identifying the technical needs of the Kano School Feeding Programme, (KSFP) to ensure its efficiency and sustainability is of paramount importance”.

During the workshop, presentations were delivered by representatives from FMA&RD, PCD and  CRC which were then followed by breakout sessions on the assessment of Kano’s existing school feeding programme.  

"Home Grown School Feeding is a win-wi n situation for farmers and school children. The programme also creates linkages between education, agriculture, health and nutrition," said PCD’s West Africa Regional Coordinator during his presentation on the HGSF framework.

Workshop Outcomes:

Workshop participants concluded that the redesign of the programme using the HGSF concept should see the following carried out for optimal programme efficiency:

• The development of multi-stakeholder engagement
• A programme designed with strong linkages between health and agriculture
• The development of a policy document to guide programme implementation
• Strengthening technical development of the programme to include Monitoring and Evaluation, food quality standards and procurement to enhancing implementation
• Strengthening partnerships and collaboration with NGOs and sensitization and advocacy at community levels