Accra, Feb. 15, GNA - About 700,202 pupils from 1,695 public schools throughout the country have benefited from the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) since its inception in 2005.

Under the programme pupils in basic schools and kindergartens in the most deprived communities are provided with nutritious meal daily. Mr Francis Yaw Gyarko, Deputy National Co-ordinator of the Programme announced this when he addressed the opening session of a the three-day workshop for 70 newly appointed Regional Co-ordinators, National and Regional Programme Officers in Accra on Tuesday.

It was on the theme: 93Planning for Action: Building a Sustainable GS= FP through Collaboration and Partnership."

The workshop was to strengthen programme implementation and solicit ideas to review the second phase of the programme as the first phase ends this year. The participants are expected to be well oriented to understand the concept and their duties in their respective job description. Mr Gyarko said about 65 per cent of foodstuff produced locally were used in the preparation of meals for the pupils, and commended vegetable farmers for their close collaboration with the caterers in the preparation of balanced meals. "Most caterers especially those from Northern, Upper East and West Regions purchase their entire foodstuff from the local farmers," he added= .. Mr Gyarko urged the co-ordinators to collaborate with the Metropolitan= , Municipal and District Assemblies who had been sensitised on operations of the programme.

He noted that about 80 per cent of the desk officers and caterers had been trained on their roles and responsibilities in the management of the programme.

Mr Gyarko observed that the absence of a clear Government Policy Guideline on the programme, documentation, poor branding, poor targeting of beneficiary schools and promotion of the programme were some of the challenges facing its implementation.

"Some other major challenges are how to link caterers to local farme= rs and ensure 80 per cent of the feeding cost is spent on local farm produce and the decision by the Dutch Government to stop its sponsorship package,= " he added. The Deputy National Co-ordinator noted that currently management of th= e programme had embarked on a re-targeting exercise to ensure that schools in deprived communities benefited from the GSFP. He emphasised the need to engage experts to facilitate the documentation, rebranding and other aspects of the programme, such as engaging a Communication Specialist to facilitate communication and other related issues. Mr Gyarko appealed to government to come out with a National Legal Framework and draw modalities to sustain the programme. He said consultants had been engaged to evaluate the first phase of th= e programme.