The number of Ghanaian schoolchildren benefiting from the Ghana School Feeding Programme has increased to more than 4.53 million, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has disclosed.
She said the programme, which provides meals to schoolchildren every school day, has expanded significantly in both coverage and government funding since 2024.
“The Ghana School Feeding Programme remains one of the most visible ways this ministry touches the lives of Ghana’s school children every single school day,” Naa Momo Lartey said.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday September 16, she said the programme fed 4,029,580 pupils in 2024 with a government allocation of GH¢1.393 billion.
At the time, the feeding grant stood at GH¢1.50 per meal.
In 2025, she said government increased the grant to GH¢2 per meal, supported by an allocation of GH¢1.788 billion, while the number of beneficiaries rose to about 4.23 million pupils.
For 2026, the allocation has increased further to GH¢1.982 billion, representing a 42 percent increase, with the programme now reaching more than 4.527 million children daily.
“The increase is clear,” the Minister said.
Naa Momo Lartey also disclosed that government has cleared all caterer arrears from 2024 and paid for the first and second terms of the 2025/2026 academic year.
Beyond funding, she said the Ministry has expanded its monitoring of schools participating in the programme.
“We scaled our compliance monitoring from 4,419 schools in 2025 to 8,270 schools in 2026,” she said.
The Minister further disclosed that 20,171 caterers and head cooks have been trained in practical nutrition standards.
She said the measures are aimed at ensuring that the expansion of the programme is accompanied by improvements in compliance, nutrition and service delivery.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Mavis Fantevi
