TechnoServe, NHGSFP collaborate to fight child malnutrition
TechnoServe Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) to enhance nutrition standards, food safety, and agricultural value chains within the
TechnoServe Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) to enhance nutrition standards, food safety, and agricultural value chains within the nation’s school feeding initiative.
The collaboration is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s fight against child malnutrition and reinforce the country’s local food system.
The agreement formalises a collaboration aimed at improving meal quality for millions of primary school pupils while deepening support for smallholder farmers and local food suppliers.
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The NHGSFP operates under the supervision of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), which coordinates key federal social investment interventions.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the National Programme Manager of NHGSFP, Princess Aderemi Adebowale, described the partnership as both historic and timely, stressing that nutrition remained a critical pillar of national development.
“Today marks not just the signing of a document, but the strengthening of a partnership committed to addressing one of the most critical pillars of national development — the nutrition and wellbeing of our children,” she said.
Adebowale noted that although the programme was designed to provide nutritious meals to schoolchildren while stimulating local agricultural production and job creation, persistent malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and food insecurity continue to undermine children’s cognitive development and long-term productivity.
She added that TechnoServe’s expertise in agricultural value chain development, nutrition programming and capacity building would strengthen efforts to improve meal diversity, safety standards and programme monitoring.
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Under the MoU, both parties agreed to jointly strengthen the nutritional quality and diversity of meals served to beneficiaries, enhance food safety and quality assurance mechanisms, provide evidence-based technical support for menu planning rooted in local food systems, promote sustainable agricultural value chains that empower smallholder farmers, and deploy data-driven monitoring systems to improve outcomes.
Country Director of TechnoServe Nigeria, Adesuwa Akinboro, explained that the collaboration builds on lessons from the West Africa Fortified Whole Grain Programme (WAFPUR), supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and implemented in Kano and Ogun states.
According to her, the initiative has trained school caterers, conducted cooking demonstrations, built miller capacity and facilitated regulatory compliance, creating a tested model that can now be scaled through the national school feeding framework.
Stakeholders at the ceremony expressed optimism that the partnership would not only improve dietary quality for pupils but also strengthen supply chain resilience and stimulate inclusive economic growth across agricultural communities.
