Mahama promises to decentralise food supply under Free SHS

Ghanaian

John Dramani Mahama, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has committed to overhauling the distribution of food items to Senior High Schools (SHS) by the National Food Buffer Stock Company, as part of his proposed reforms to the Free SHS policy.

During his campaign tour in Kambatiak, the North East Region, Mahama outlined

Read full articlehis plan to decentralise the procurement of food for SHS students.

He emphasised that under his administration, headmasters would be entrusted with the responsibility of purchasing food items directly from local farmers to ensure a nutritious diet for students.

Mahama stated that this decentralisation would empower schools to procure a variety of fresh produce such as groundnuts, beans, and vegetables, promoting healthier meal options for students. He advocated for feeding grants to be disbursed directly to schools rather than through the Buffer Stock Company, enabling headmasters to manage funds efficiently and prioritise nutritious meals.

"If we decentralise the procurement of food, the headmasters will be able to procure the food from the farmers in the area and they will be able to buy groundnuts, they will be able to buy beans, they will be able to buy vegetables so that the children can get a nutritious diet. And so the feeding grants should not go to Buffer Stock. The feeding grants should be paid directly to the secondary schools so that the headmasters can use the money and buy nutritious food for the children. And so we are going to make Free SHS better," he said.