An appraisal of the implementation of the national school feeding programme and its effect on enrolment and attendance in public primary schools in Southeast, Nigeria: perception of heads of schools

Chibuike Innocent Agu; Edmund Ndudi Ossai; Onwe Emeka Ogah; Ifunaya Clara Agu; Ifeyinwa Akamike; George Onyemaechi Ugwu; Nwobodo Edwin; Blessing Lucy Ewenyi; Benedict N Azuogu

doi:10.1186/s40795-023-00695-z

An appraisal of the implementation of the national school feeding programme and its effect on enrolment and attendance in public primary schools in Southeast, Nigeria: perception of heads of schools

BMC Nutr. 2023 Mar 2;9(1):37. doi: 10.1186/s40795-023-00695-z.

Authors

Chibuike Innocent Agu^{1

2}, Edmund Ndudi Ossai³, Onwe Emeka Ogah⁴, Ifunaya Clara Agu⁵, Ifeyinwa Akamike³, George Onyemaechi Ugwu⁶, Nwobodo Edwin⁷, Blessing Lucy Ewenyi³, Benedict N Azuogu³

Affiliations

¹ Health Policy Research Group, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu-Campus, Enugu, Nigeria. aguchibuike14@yahoo.com.
² Department of Community Medicine, Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi, Nigeria. aguchibuike14@yahoo.com.
³ Department of Community Medicine, Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi, Nigeria.
⁴ Department of Paediatrics, Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi, Nigeria.
⁵ Health Policy Research Group, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu-Campus, Enugu, Nigeria.
⁶ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Nigeria.
⁷ Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nnewi Campus, Nigeria.

Abstract

Introduction: The National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) was re-launched in Nigeria in 2016, eleven years after it was first introduced in the country, with Enugu as one of the beneficiary States. The objectives of the programme are to improve the health of school children and aid in the realization of Universal Basic Education (UBE) goals. This study explored the opinions of heads of public primary schools on the implementation and policy benefits of NHGSFP in Enugu, southeast Nigeria.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 24 headmasters and headmistresses purposively selected from public primary schools in the Enugu metropolis. Qualitative data were collected through the use of a pretested Key Informant Interview (KII) guide, and analyzed using a thematic approach.

Results: All the participants were aware of the NHGSFP, which involved the provision of one mid-day meal per child per school day to the pupils, and all their schools were part of the programme. Most of the participants complained about the nutritional quality and quantity of the school meals which they felt were poor. None of the schools had a kitchen within the school premises, and all the participants admitted that deworming was not regularly carried out, as part of the programme. Most of the participants believed that the objectives of the feeding programme, including, reduced hunger among learners, increased school enrolment, attendance and enhanced participatory learning, were being met.

Conclusion: Although the NHGSFP was implemented in every school in Enugu metropolis, Enugu State, Nigeria, regular deworming of pupils was not carried out, and there were concerns about certain aspects of the implementation, such as inadequate funding and poor quality of school meals. Thus, there is a need for the introduction of deworming and more allocation of funds to the programme to improve the quantity and nutritional quality of school meals.

Keywords: Enugu; Implementation; NHGSFP; Nigeria; Public primary schools; Qualitative study.