FG plans to feed 50m pupils under school feeding scheme by 2026

The federal government says it is working to expand the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme to reach 50 million pupils by 2026.

Aderemi Adebowale, national programme manager, said in Abuja that the plan is to cover pupils from primary 1 to 6 as well as integrate out-of-school children.

“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. 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 is controlling costs by creating alignments among small-holder farmers, aggregators, supply chains 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,” she said.

In May 2025, the federal government launched the Alternate Education and Renewed Hope National Home-Grown School Feeding Project, which aims to provide meals for 20 million out-of-school and underserved children by 2026.

The initiative was inaugurated in Abuja by Nentawe Yilwatda, then minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction, who is now the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The programme is part of the Renewed Hope National Home-Grown School Feeding scheme in partnership with the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education and the National Identity Management Commission.

Yilwatda described it as one of the flagship components of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, launched to mark President Bola Tinubu’s second year in office.