THE Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture has spent about N$89 million on the national school feeding programme (NSFP) in a year.

Ministry spokesperson Sem Shino yesterday said Namibia remains committed to the programme in line with the African Day of School Feeding, which is observed annually between 28 February and 1 March.

In a media statement, Shino said the ministry used part of the money to procure a maize blend for 461 829 pupils at 1 514 schools countrywide in the 2022/23 financial year.

"The NSFP is primarily aimed at providing food mainly to vulnerable pupils, or those from food-insecure households," he said.

Shino said the programme is currently limited to primary and combined schools.

He said the World Food Programme (WFP) in Namibia partnered with the education ministry in 2021 and piloted the home-grown school feeding programme (HGSFP) across 29 schools in seven regions.

"The WFP and the ministry have since invested N$2,7 million in this programme."

Shino said the HGSFP complements the NSFP through the provision of a balanced and diversified diet with food purchased from local smallholder farmers, served with a fortified maize blend.

"This programme creates a predictable income for the smallholder farmers and traders and boosts agricultural production, thereby enhancing the local economy and reducing poverty," Shino said.

This year's African Day of School Feeding is observed under the theme 'Boosting Local Food Procurement Systems and Regional Value Chains in the Context of ASCFTA for Sustained Home-Grown School Feeding'. This year's eighth edition of the day was celebrated in Ethiopia from 28 February to 1 March.

The day is marked "with the purpose of heightening the importance of investing in school feeding programmes, giving due consideration to backlogs created by the colliding education, food and climate crises, impacting Africa's children and future generations," Shino said.