The Federal Government has declared its bid to extend the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme to 50 million primary schools pupils in 2026.

This was disclosed by Aderemi Adebowale, the National Programme Manager, National Social Investment Programme Agency in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

“We are working to include early years – primary 1 to 3, primary 4 to 6 – in the school feeding programme, and also out-of-school children, which we are handling step by step to integrate.

“So, by the year 2026, we are looking at feeding close to 50 million pupils in primary school in Nigeria.

“Ideally, school feeding should be between N500 to N1,000 per child.

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“Even at N500 per child, you should be able to still give the children a nutritious and delicious meal on a daily basis,” she said.

Adebowale explained that the agency regulated prices by aligning smallholder farmers, aggregators, supply chain actors, and development partners.

“With this alignment, we’ll be able to control price from the rock bottom. We are not going to be doing market prices.

“So, we have to agree on prices from our suppliers, agri-vendors and farmers to arrive at a reasonable cost per plate.

Once we do that, we will follow up on the payment and service delivery.”

NAN recalls that on May 27, 2025, the Federal Government launched the Alternate Education and Renewed Hope National Home-Grown School Feeding Project, targeting 20 million out-of-school and underserved children by 2026.

The initiative was inaugurated in Abuja by Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, then Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, who is now the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The programme is being implemented in partnership with the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education and the National Identity Management Commission.

Yilwatda had described the initiative as a key component of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, introduced to commemorate President Bola Tinubu’s second year in office.