THE Federal Government has unveiled ambitious plans to feed 50 million primary school pupils under the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) by the year 2026, as part of efforts to combat malnutrition, boost school enrolment, and support vulnerable children across Nigeria.
News Point Nigeria reports that this was disclosed by Aderemi Adebowale, the National Programme Manager of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), in an exclusive with journalists in Abuja.
Adebowale explained that the expansion would not only cover children in primary one to six, but also seek to integrate out-of-school children, a demographic that has long faced challenges of hunger, exclusion, and poor educational outcomes.
“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,” Adebowale stated.
The programme manager revealed that the government has projected a cost range of ₦500 to ₦1,000 per child per day, stressing that even at the lower end of ₦500, the government could still provide a nutritious and delicious meal daily.
Adebowale further explained that the government is adopting a price-control mechanism through partnerships with smallholder farmers, aggregators, and agri-vendors to keep the cost of meals affordable and sustainable.
“With this alignment, we’ll be able to control price from the rock bottom. We are not going to be doing market prices.
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 added.
The development follows the inauguration of the Alternate Education and Renewed Hope National Home-Grown School Feeding Project on May 27, 2025, by then-Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda (now National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC).
That initiative aimed to provide meals for 20 million out-of-school and underserved children by 2026. It was launched in collaboration with the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Yilwatda had described the school feeding programme as a flagship project under the National Social Investment Programme Agency, designed to improve nutrition, education, and local agricultural production, while also stimulating job creation for cooks, food suppliers, and farmers.
