The Governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello, yesterday expressed deep optimism that the Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP), would succeed in the state.

According to Ceoafrica, the governor, who spoke in Lokoja, at the official flag-off of Stakeholders’ Sensitisation Workshop on the HGSFP, said that government was determined to reap the massive fruits offered by the scheme.

Bello, who was represented by his Deputy, Mr Simon Achuba, pointed out that children and parents would benefit from the programme.

In his remarks, Mr Adoga Ibrahim, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Multilateral Donor Agencies, said that the technical workshop was to upgrade implementing bodies on the work plans and the working documents for the HGSFP in Kogi.

“The HGSFP aims at giving children in public schools, from primary one to three, a meal per day, which is fully funded and appropriated for, in the 2016 and 2017 federal budget”.

“All states are supposed to back up the programme with their own counterparts funding to support the operations; our governor has fully backed it up, and even provided a furnished and digitalised staff office.

“Already, the visiting team from the federal government has certified the state for meeting most of the conditions required for the implementation of the programme”, Ibrahim said.

Mrs Abimbola Adesanmi, National Programme Manager, HGSFP, in her remarks, said that the programme provided opportunities to assist vulnerable families to feed their children, while providing an incentive to send them to school.

“The programme provides a linkage to health and nutrition intervention packages and also enhances community development as the food will be sourced from small holder farmers”, she said.