The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Mgt &Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq has disclosed that apart from enriching Nigeria’s future leaders( children) with more nutrition, it also hopes that if all training and best practices are properly entrenched it will take millions of kids off the streets.
According to her this is the aim for training cooks on best practices which includes hygiene , standardization , financial record keeping amongst others was carried out for 36 vendors in Cross River in a train the trainer one day workshop organised by the ministry.
Speaking in Calabar , the Minister represented, Sunday Okoh, Deputy Director, Legal Services , Federal Ministry of humanitarian Affairs said what they consider as the most essential part of the school feeding programme is adequate and quality nutritional value for the children and also ensuring that the food itself is prepared under highly hygienic environment.
Okoh further explained that there has been an increase in the number enrollment by children , meaning that the programme is gradually achieving it’s aim which is quality nutrition for the children and making sure more kids leave the streets to school.
His words :” You know the food being prepared by these cooks is for children so they need to let the cooks know how to prepare this food in an hygienic environment. What they should do and what they should not do.
“You can imagine somebody who is cooking has a child running around, touching all of that to avoid bacteria because children are more exposed to disease than the adults. So the cooks need to be very careful how they prepare this food and also they should know how to procure their food.
“The testimony we are getting from states is that school enrollment in those classes – primary one to three has increased. Head teachers, headmasters have been testifying that they have more enrollment than they used to have before.
“This programme had help children. Those who were not going to school because there is food for them to eat, they go to school. The population in classes have increased.
“They are not supposed to take the food home. It is meant for them in school. But you see children will always be children. But I think what they are doing too will encourage the ones at home to be in school.
The federal government is serious about the programme that’s is why we monitor at different levels , with head teachers as well as external person’s .We have what we called M&E – Monitoring and Evaluation. The school may not know them. They can just come into the school to check what you are serving the children.
” If you are not serving them the standard we want then such a cook will be disciplined. It’s either they take him off the list and get another person to replace him.
“The training is all about the localization of cooks. A cook cannot be in Odukpani and wants to bring food to Calabar Municipality. Before you get here, assuming there’s go slow on the run, something may happen and the children have closed and they’re gone, what happens to the food. The next thing we hear is they didn’t come to feed them. Gradually things will change. The success story has been very marvelous.
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