Four public schools in Akwa Ibom State have been selected for the sustainable food sufficiency model project organised by the African Children’s Aid Education and Development Foundation in partnership with the Danish Embassy in Nigeria.
The project tagged ‘School Farm for School Meal’ which kicked off on Monday, April 25, 2022, was meant to provide 70 percent of the school feeding needs for the first six months of the academic session.
The Executive Director of ACAEDF, Mr. David Umem in a statement sent to our correspondent in Uyo on Tuesday explained that Project SF4SM was not just for students in Nigeria but also for parents and all stakeholders in a child’s life, adding that the project would be expanded to other states in the near future.
He noted that the project was designed not to just feed the children but to equip them with basic farming skills for growing their food.
In his words, ”Although, our intervention started with government schools in Akwa Ibom, it is also pertinent to state that we hope to expand the project to other states in Nigeria. We are immensely grateful for the unquantifiable support of the Danish Embassy of Nigeria, they saw the vision with us and proactively supported the project”.
He said they would kick start by feeding 1,000 – 2,000 children daily for 65 days, which according to him would be approximately 97,500 meals prepared and distributed to the target children.
Speaking on other activities of the project, Umem said, ”within the stated period of time, we would introduce aquaculture practice in primary schools and host knowledge transfer seminars targeting about 500 pupils within the select schools. The Training models would also include impactful skill training for 30 fish farmers in sustainable feed harnessing, 40 teachers in improved school gardening techniques, aquaculture practice using improved child participatory techniques, and 30 school cooks trained on improving dietary diversity and innovation nutrition.”
Speaking on behalf of the Danish Embassy of Nigeria, Mr. Paul Jacob, expressed joy for the embassy to be part of the programme saying, “it goes to reiterate our commitment to Nigeria as a nation and to its people.”
“The SF4SM project aims to address the pressing challenge of lack of access to food and poor nutrition amongst young children. We focused on schools as education through the existing schooling structure allows for learning opportunities for children and also be able to have access to the children for our school feeding program.
“Looking at the model, it reflects a well thought through a process that allows for project/ program sustainability in line with the Sustainable Development goals of attaining zero hunger globally by 2030. The Danish Embassy of Nigeria sponsored this project under our SDG Facility and we would continue to participate and monitor the execution to ensure that the Goal and objectives of the program are attained,” he added.
Representatives of the Akwa Ibom State Government, the pilot schools, and community-based committee members who attended the flag-off event applauded ACAEDF and the Danish embassy in Nigeria for initiating the project and pledged necessary Support to enhance the success of the project.
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