AYV News, July 25, 2023
The German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, has announced that the Federal Government of Germany has decided to support Sierra Leone’s accelerated School Feeding Programme through the World Food Programme and would invest, in the next five years, €22 million in Sierra Leone and Laos.
He was speaking during the Food System Stocktaking Moment in Rome, Italy, the first global follow-up to the 2021 Food Systems Summit that was held during the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2022.
He said the support would be used to help provide nutritious meals for school children at such a crucial time because school meals would assist the government in fighting malnutrition.
President Bio welcomed the announcement by the German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, and thanked them for the kind gesture.
The President noted that the impact of the programme had been positive, with an increase in school attendance, a high retention rate and an increase in enrollment that helped reduce stunting growth at all levels. He said his government had also seen a reduction in gender disparity in primary schools and assured that they would continue to show strong political and institutional support for the initiative.
President Bio reminded the audience that, “In 2022, Sierra Leone joined the School Meals Coalition. We believe that coalition was a good way for my government to get support to improve the implementation and to ensure that, together with partners, every child will have the opportunity to receive a healthy, nutritious meal by 2030”, he noted.
