Post by Trade Coach on Apr 26, 2017 5:28:33 GMT 1
Commending efforts of states that have already started implementing the home grown school feeding policy, Managing Director of Amolese Aquaculture, Nurudeen Tiamiyu made reference to Osun as the only state in Nigeria that has an efficient school feeding program.
Despite having recorded laudable feats, the Osun State SFP is faced with challenges of securing ongoing funding and increased local small holder farmer participation. While it succeeded in student health and enrollment, it did not effectively take care of farmers’ enrichment. Many farmers said they were unaware of how to participate in the SFP, and had not heard that they were included in the program goals. In addition to this, most of them expressed their distrust for government-organized programs, as a result of problems encountered in the past.
The Osun State’s SFP is also faced with challenges like inadequate monitoring and evaluation, as well as poor sensitization and advocacy of relevant stakeholders, resulting in low community involvement and participation.
Taking all this into account, University of California, Berkeley (Haas School of Business) developed five recommendations to improve the incorporation of local farmers into the SFP. First, farmers need to have an incentive to participate in the program, which can be achieved through provision of subsidies for storage and transportation, as well as modification of the menu to encourage more local purchasing. Next, need for education and sensitization of both farmers and cooks on benefits of collaboration. It also recommended facilitating these connections by leveraging the existing vendor and farmer cooperatives. Finally, governance and monitoring of the program should be streamlined to ensure efficient flow of information to government and other stakeholders.
Other than Nigeria, SFPs can be found in Togo and Ghana. Although each of these countries faces different challenges, they are achieving various degrees of success. The SFP in Ghana currently addresses the issue of small farmers’ access to the local markets by running two different implementation plans in different locations. The first one utilizes buffer stocks as a means to guarantee a steady demand that can absorb farmers’ production excesses from the state. The alternate program revolves around facilitating a stakeholder roundtable where farmers and food vendors can meet to draft a master contract for direct buying. Among the numerous stakeholders encouraged to attend are the Ministry of Agriculture, which provides pricing information and a bank consortium which provides alternative funding.
In Togo, the SFP does not need to specifically address the issue of farmers’ access to local markets because of two reasons. On one hand, access to market is regulated by small traders, who are the intermediaries from whom the vendors purchase food. One the other hand, farmers already supply a great majority of the products demanded by the food vendors, which reduces the need to set in place mechanisms to achieve a better alignment between the competing interests.
Undoubtedly, it is imperative for the government to re-examine the implementation methodologies of the varied SFPs in order to chart a realistic road map targeting high impact.
Despite having recorded laudable feats, the Osun State SFP is faced with challenges of securing ongoing funding and increased local small holder farmer participation. While it succeeded in student health and enrollment, it did not effectively take care of farmers’ enrichment. Many farmers said they were unaware of how to participate in the SFP, and had not heard that they were included in the program goals. In addition to this, most of them expressed their distrust for government-organized programs, as a result of problems encountered in the past.
The Osun State’s SFP is also faced with challenges like inadequate monitoring and evaluation, as well as poor sensitization and advocacy of relevant stakeholders, resulting in low community involvement and participation.
Taking all this into account, University of California, Berkeley (Haas School of Business) developed five recommendations to improve the incorporation of local farmers into the SFP. First, farmers need to have an incentive to participate in the program, which can be achieved through provision of subsidies for storage and transportation, as well as modification of the menu to encourage more local purchasing. Next, need for education and sensitization of both farmers and cooks on benefits of collaboration. It also recommended facilitating these connections by leveraging the existing vendor and farmer cooperatives. Finally, governance and monitoring of the program should be streamlined to ensure efficient flow of information to government and other stakeholders.
Other than Nigeria, SFPs can be found in Togo and Ghana. Although each of these countries faces different challenges, they are achieving various degrees of success. The SFP in Ghana currently addresses the issue of small farmers’ access to the local markets by running two different implementation plans in different locations. The first one utilizes buffer stocks as a means to guarantee a steady demand that can absorb farmers’ production excesses from the state. The alternate program revolves around facilitating a stakeholder roundtable where farmers and food vendors can meet to draft a master contract for direct buying. Among the numerous stakeholders encouraged to attend are the Ministry of Agriculture, which provides pricing information and a bank consortium which provides alternative funding.
In Togo, the SFP does not need to specifically address the issue of farmers’ access to local markets because of two reasons. On one hand, access to market is regulated by small traders, who are the intermediaries from whom the vendors purchase food. One the other hand, farmers already supply a great majority of the products demanded by the food vendors, which reduces the need to set in place mechanisms to achieve a better alignment between the competing interests.
Undoubtedly, it is imperative for the government to re-examine the implementation methodologies of the varied SFPs in order to chart a realistic road map targeting high impact.