Twelve-year-old Adrian Kay, a class six pupil, prepares for school. After he finishes breakfast at home, his mother hands him a pack of home-cooked food and five cedis. Curious, I asked her, “Why give your child food and pocket money for lunch when the government provides a free hot meal under the school feeding programme?”
Before his mother could respond, Adrian answered, “I haven’t eaten the school food since class two.” When I pressed for a reason, he explained, “The food is tasteless and not nutritious. Many of my classmates who used to eat it often fell sick. In my class of 51 students, only eight eat the food regularly.”
Shocked by this revelation, I decided to investigate further by visiting Adrian’s school. The headmistress, Lucia Boateng (not her real name), who spoke to me anonymously, confirmed Adrian’s account.
“In today’s Ghana, how can you expect someone to prepare a whole meal for just GH₵1.20?” she asked. “How is that even possible? Without investigation, you can already see the problem starts with the budgeted amount. These days, how much does a ball of kenkey cost? How much is an egg?”.
Madam Lucia went on to reveal her concerns. “I’ve had countless PTA meetings urging parents not to let their children eat the school meals because I, as the headmistress, cannot guarantee the quality of the food. We teachers are supposed to taste the food before it’s served, but I can’t do it. I can count the number of times I’ve risked tasting it. We’re deeply worried about the quality being served.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a growing child aged 4 to 8 needs 19 grams of protein daily. This equates to at least two or three eggs per day, with each egg containing about 6 to 7 grams of protein. How many eggs or other sources of protein are included in these meals?
To understand the meal preparation process and its nutritional value, I followed Miriam Onyinah (not her real name), a caterer for the school feeding programme in the Kpone Katamanso Municipality. She agreed to share the details as long as her identity and school remained anonymous.
At 6:15 AM on a Monday, December 9, we headed to Ashaiman Municipal Market. Her task was to feed 300 out of over 600 students in her school. With GH₵360 allocated for the day, we began shopping.
A single medium-sized egg cost GH₵2.50. Ideally, to meet WHO’s protein requirement, she should have bought 600 eggs for the 300 children, totalling at least GH₵1,500, far beyond her budget. Instead, she managed to buy only 40 eggs for GH₵100.
With GH₵260 left, she purchased three bowls of rice at GH₵70 each, bringing the total to GH₵210. The remaining GH₵40 went toward vegetable oil, a few tomatoes, and some onions. Her budget was exhausted, and she hadn’t bought gas, water, fish, or vegetables. To make the jollof rice somewhat palatable, she used red oil and powdered shrimp.
Back in her kitchen, I watched with eagle eyes as she prepared the meal, heavily seasoning the rice and mashing the eggs to spread the protein. By 12:00 PM, the children lined up in front of their classroom block, waiting for their hot meal: a scoop of rice per child, without fish or stew. We counted 248 students who received a portion; the last child got virtually nothing.
I asked 10-year-old Halima Mohammed about the meal she had just eaten. “It wasn’t tasty, it wasn’t sweet, there was no fish, and the portion was too small. I could have eaten three times that amount, but the food ran out. I didn’t eat before coming to school because my mother is sick and doesn’t have money.”
Other children brought food from home. Ivan Gray, a class five pupil, told me, “I eat food my mother prepares. I don’t eat the school food because it’s not nice. The first time I ate it, I got sick, so my father told me never to eat it again.”
This grim picture is the norm across basic schools nationwide. Launched in 2005, the school feeding programme aims to provide a daily hot meal to public basic school pupils, ensuring they stay in school and focus on their studies rather than hunger.
In its 2024 budget, the government claimed the programme served over 3.8 million children in 10,000 schools, with GH₵5.4 billion allocated for social protection initiatives, including school feeding. Yet, many pupils still go without adequate meals.
During the 2024 election campaign, both major political parties raised some level of concern over this issue. The NDC promised to increase feeding grants, ensure timely payments, and implement reforms like decentralising management and using geographical data to expand the programme to deprived areas.
In contrast, the NPP’s 2024 manifesto highlighted an increase in beneficiaries from 1.6 million in 2016 to over 4 million in 2024 but offered no concrete plans for improvement.
Dr Clement Apaak, a member of the NDC’s education committee, assured me in an interview that the party is committed to enhancing conditions in basic schools nationwide.
However, for pupils like Adrian Kay and Halima Mohammed, these promises mean little unless the feeding grant is increased and the meals meet proper nutritional standards.
According to parents, caterers, and nutritionists, the current allocation of GH₵1.20 per child is woefully inadequate for preparing a nutritious meal.
Currently, the Ghana School Feeding Secretariat spends about GH₵4 million daily to feed 1.7 million pupils across 4,881 schools. Yet, the meals served lack both quality and quantity, raising serious concerns about whether taxpayers are getting value for money.
Dissatisfied caterers, fearful of backlash from the government, are calling for an increase in the feeding grant. As children reject the poor-quality food, caterers are forced to cut corners even further.
A nutritionist, Akua Asuamah Tawiah, told JoyNews that a nutrition-friendly school initiative by the government is being rolled out to assess whether children are receiving the required nutrition. However, she noted that since the programme’s inception, private schools seem to be performing better in serving nutritious meals to pupils.
“What the nutrition-friendly school initiative does is that we have experts from the health sector, including nutritionists, who go around educating caterers on the value of nutrients that the kids need. We taste the foods and examine the ingredients. If, after tasting, we realise the ingredients are lacking, we don’t award the school a certificate as a nutrition-friendly school.” she told me.
According to her, the initiative has shown a stark contrast: private schools provide more nutritious meals than public schools, largely because parents in private institutions pay higher fees.
She urged the government to increase the budgetary allocation for the school feeding programme to ensure children receive the essential nutrition they need to grow and thrive.
While officials of Ghana’s School Feeding Programme remain silent on the inadequacy of the current budget, it is clear that the meagre funds are undermining the programme’s effectiveness. This lack of resources deprives children of the nutrients crucial for healthy growth and academic success. Without immediate action, the nation risks compromising the potential of its future leaders.
I therefore ask, isn’t it time for a complete overhaul of Ghana’s school feeding programme? With GH₵4 million of taxpayer money spent daily, the government, especially the new NDC administration, must ensure that children receive meals that nourish both their bodies and minds while keeping them in school. Anything less jeopardizes not only their health but also the nation’s future.