The School Feeding Caterers Association of Ghana is set to meet with government today, Monday, May 16, 2022, over their decision to stop cooking.
School children who are beneficiaries of the National School Feeding Program will be without food as the caterers have vowed not to cook if the government fails to increase their allocation from 93 pesewas per child to GHS 3.00.
According to the caterers, the high cost of food items and the general hardship in the country is making it impossible for them to feed the pupils.
They say they are making huge losses from cooking meals for the children at the current price allocation of the government.
Juliana Cudjoe, the President of the Greater Accra School Feeding Caterers Association told Citi News that, “the price of oil has increased to GHS 480. In 2017, we used to buy it for GHS 70. If we want to buy on credit, we pay GHS 600. Beans used to be GHS500 but now it is GHS 1,400. Rice has also gone up from GHS 80 to GHS 360. What do you expect us to do? You brought in the school feeding program and with the prices of foodstuff going up, you still pay us 97 pesewas and we are even taxed on that amount.”
This is not the first time the caterers are demanding an increase in the allocation.
In 2021, a section of the caterers chided the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Sara Adwoa Safo for failing to address their concerns.
They said increasing the allocation to GHS 3 will ensure that they are able to provide quality and adequate meals for pupils.
Ghana School Feeding Programme
The Ghana School Feeding Programme is an initiative of the comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme Pillar 3, which seeks to enhance food security and reduce hunger in line with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs) on hunger, poverty and malnutrition.
The government currently provides GHS1 per day for a plate of food for a child.
The amount is considered inadequate to provide an adequate and healthy diet for child development.