Gov’t to introduce feeding policy in schools

Currently, the country has feeding guidelines only, which were developed by the World Food Programme (WFP) in 1993. The guidelines were designed for government-owned pre and primary schools, and currently covers 370,000 pupils in 758 primary schools. It also covers 290,000 vulnerable groups in 966 health facilities countrywide (that is children under five years, expectant and lactating mothers and TB out-patients).

When briefing the Ivorian delegation, Local Government and Rural Development minister Eric Molale recently said they have some challenges regarding this programme which include delays in procurement of commodities, long lead times for the execution of procurement activities due to appeals and queries from bidders, limited supplier capacity to meet tender and/or contract obligations such as adhering to specifications, pricing, adherence to delivery, schedules leading to irregular supplies and general contract implementation and long turnaround times for quality control testing.