The Federal Government, on Thursday, commenced a step-down training of 46 cooks under the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in Sokoto State.
Reports that the training was aimed at ensuring preparation of healthy, quality and hygienic meals for pupils in the state by the cooks.
Speaking at the occasion, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouk, said that two participants were selected from each of the 23 local government areas in the state.
Umar-Farouk, represented by Deputy Director, Finance in the ministry, Mr Muhammad Sambo, said that the training was to ensure that meals were prepared under the most hygienic conditions and with nutritional value.
She urged the participants to concentrate and learn from the experts so that they too could train others in their respective areas.
The minister said that the ministry brought in consultants to teach the cooks on the need to include nutritional value to their meals and cook them under the most hygienic condition.
“We understand that in the past, the cooks usually prepared meals without any standard guideline,” Umar-Farouk said.
She stated that the ministry would not compromise on the quality and quantity of meals served to pupils in the country.
In his remarks, Special Adviser to Gov. Aminu Tambuwal on Social Intervention, Alhaji Hayatu Tafida, commended the federal government for its foresight, stressing that it would surely add value to the processes.
Tafida assured of the state government’s continued support to the social intervention programmes, even as he described school feeding as a distinct scheme being benefited by pupils.
Also speaking, the Programme Manager of school feeding in the state, Alhaji Abubakar Kirkau, said that the training was imperative, as the federal government was trying to make the programme sustainable.
Kirkau said that the training would further enhance healthy living among children and check their malnutrition status in the state.
He added that the efforts would also ensure the consumption of healthy foods by the pupils, thereby checking malnutrition among children across the state.
A cross section of the participants commended the ministry and the state office of the programme for the training, pledging to enhance their operations through the knowledge acquired.