The rising cost of foodstuffs is adversely affecting the federal government’s National Home Grown School Feeding Programme.

Gab Okulaja, Programme Manager of the scheme, said, “We have the challenge of increase in the prices of foodstuffs by as much as 100 per cent, and the payments to cooks are at the same rates as they were in 2016/17 when the programme began.

“There should be a review of meal cost per child to address the rising inflation rate and increase in prices of foodstuffs as this is a major clog in delivering on the programme’s mandate.’’

Mr Okulaja advised the government also to accommodate pre-primary school classes that were not part of the programme.

“There should be a policy change to accommodate early child education, which the programme left out. Since we are embarking on enumeration and expansion, this is an opportunity for the president to direct that children in this group be included,’’ he added.

A total of 280,000 pupils currently benefit from the programme in 1,000 schools in Cross River.

(NAN)