•Aregbesola

Aregbesola speaks on O’Meals in Britain

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola will address British parliamentarians at the British House of Commons today on the effects of his administration’s Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programme, popularly known as O-Meals.
The governor was invited by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Agriculture and Food for Development; and the Partnership for Child Development (PCD), Imperial College, London, to make a 10-minute presentation on O-Meals as a tool for educational and agricultural development.
The programme will be attended by development experts, who will speak on “the evolution and improvement of government-initiated HGSF programmes in low and middle income countries.”
In a statement, the governor’s media aide, Mr. Semiu Okankawon, said: “These programmes have the potential to bring countries closer to the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of reducing poverty and hunger, and ensuring universal primary education by 2015. They increase access to education and learning, and improve children’s health and nutrition.
In a statement, the organisers’ spokesman, Mr. Frank Peel, said: “Osun is a state to be copied for feeding over 240,000 children in over 1,328 public schools. O-Meals creates a win-win situation for children and farmers, with primary school enrolment increasing by 24 per cent since its inception, at the same time securing farmers’ livelihood and access to markets.
“It encompasses wider school health and nutrition initiatives, including hygiene promotion and the de-worming of children to prevent common worm infections that have a negative impact on their development and learning abilities.”
Lord Cameron of Dillington, who will chair the event, was quoted as saying: “I invite all those working for equitable agricultural development as well as for universal quality education to learn about a successful programme in Nigeria, which is helping to ensure progress on both fronts.”
A leading Health and Education Specialist with the World Bank, Prof. Donald Bundy; Chief of School Feeding and Chronic Hunger, World Food Programme, Peter Rodrigues; Senior Food & Nutrition Security Advisor, New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), Ms. Boitshepo Bibi Giyose and Senior HGSF Technical Advisor at PCD, Imperial College, London, Prof. Josephine Kiamba will speak at the event.