VICE President Kashim Shettima has revealed that Nigeria may require an estimated ₦1 trillion annually to fully sustain nationwide coverage of the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
News Point Nigeria reports that the Vice President made the disclosure in Abuja over the weekend during the National Policy Forum on the Institutionalisation and Implementation of the Renewed Hope National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, organised by ActionAid Nigeria.
Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Dr. Tope Fasua, Shettima stressed that the programme must not be seen as a financial burden but as a strategic investment in nation-building with far-reaching social, economic, and security dividends.
“The Federal Government has acknowledged that sustaining national coverage may require around one trillion naira annually. But this is not a cost; it is a nation-building investment with high social, economic, and security returns,” he said.
Shettima explained that the administration of President Bola Tinubu remains committed to ensuring that no Nigerian child is forced to learn on an empty stomach. He said the programme is designed to benefit farmers directly, strengthen local food systems, and reduce poverty.
He noted that the government recently launched the Alternate Education and Renewed Hope School Feeding Project, which targets vulnerable and out-of-school children, with the ambitious goal of reaching 20 million beneficiaries by 2026.
According to him, feeding schoolchildren is not just a social intervention but also a national security tool.
“Every hot meal served in a classroom is a barrier against recruitment into violence, a reinforcement of the state’s presence, and a promise of hope where despair might otherwise take root. If the price of exclusion is insecurity, then the dividend of inclusion is peace,” Shettima stated.
The Vice President disclosed that while the Federal Government is scaling up nationwide coverage, it is also encouraging state-level ownership by expanding the programme at the grassroots, particularly in high-poverty, low-enrolment, and conflict-prone areas.
He projected that by 2026, Nigeria would achieve hunger-free classrooms, empower millions of women micro-entrepreneurs, expand rural incomes through demand for Nigerian-grown staples, and build data-driven systems to curb leakages while boosting public trust.
Shettima further urged governors to demonstrate greater commitment by funding state compacts, aligning procurement with local produce, and adopting transparent systems for accountability.
He also invited private sector players to invest in logistics, warehousing, food processing, and payment technologies, noting that the returns are guaranteed because the demand for school meals will remain constant.
In his remarks, the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria underscored that a fully institutionalised school feeding programme could help bridge the nation’s nutrition and poverty gap.
He called on the Federal Government to secure sustained, ring-fenced financing for the scheme, including statutory contributions from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
The ActionAid boss also appealed for stronger partnerships with state governments, the private sector, and development partners, while ensuring that farmers, women entrepreneurs, and local communities remain at the heart of the initiative.
“The government must commit to building a school feeding system that is inclusive, sustainable, and transformative,” he concluded.