Action Health Incorporated (AHI), in collaboration with the Ogun State Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) and with support from the MacArthur Foundation, held a high-level meeting on May 3^rd, 2018 to disseminate the results of the baseline survey conducted in the four Local Government Areas (LGAs) to be monitored by AHI and officially launch the monitoring of the HGSFP in the LGAs.

In her welcome address, Mrs. Adenike Esiet welcomed all stakeholders to the event and briefly described the collaboration between AHI and the Ogun State HGSFP. She appreciated the relentless effort of the Ogun State HGSFP team and other partner NGOs present

After Mrs. Esiet’s welcome address, Mrs. Sumbo Oladipupo from Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN) and Mrs. Morenike Omaiboje from Women Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON), who served as representatives of partner NGOs, appreciated the State HGSFP Team for their efforts in the implementation of the programme and emphasized the importance of participation of all stakeholders to ensure the success of the HGSFP in Ogun State.

Barrister Adeleke Adewolu, the Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, followed by explaining the objectives of the programme and the role that the Ogun State Government has played in the implementation of the programme since its inception in January 2017. He informed the stakeholders that 2,948 vendors had been recruited to feed over 270,000 primary school pupils in 1,510 public primary schools across the 20 LGAs of Ogun State. He further stated that the programme has received a lot of positive feedback due to the increase in enrolment and attendance of school children and the empowerment of women as cooks and food vendors.

The Ogun State HGSFP Programme Manager, Mrs. Tinuola Shopeju, further described the status of the Ogun State HGSFP. She explained the constitution of the State Steering Committee, which consists of members from the State Ministries of Agriculture, Education, Finance, Health and Information; the process of recruitment of food vendors from within the community; and some of the challenges faced in the implementation of the HGSFP.

AHI Programme Officer, Ms. Stella Soneye gave an overview of AHI’s project to strengthen the Ogun State HGSFP. In her presentation, she described the project objectives, key project activities, strategies, and the expected outcomes from the project after which AHI programme Officer, Mrs. Zaynab Adeniyi shared the findings from the baseline survey conducted in 60 schools across the four LGAs of programme implementation with the participants.

The meeting concluded with a general discussion session where stakeholders asked questions and received appropriate answers from representatives of the Ogun State HGSFP and AHI. Mrs. Esiet informed all participants that a uniform Food Vendor’s Attendance Register will be produced in triplicate format for all project schools to ensure that data is always available on the status of the feeding programme in the schools. She also appreciated all the participants present at the meeting and solicited their full support and participation in the programme to ensure its success.

Event Photos