Government of Ghana's school feeding programme has been lauded by one of the best Science research Universities in the United Kingdom, the Imperial College London.

The findings of the research was published by Imperial's Partnership for Child Development in collaboration with the World Food Programme and the World Bank. PCD works to raise educational achievement through support for better school health nutrition in low and middle income countries.

The aim of the analysis is to provide findings and data, which will give countries worldwide the knowledge and evidence to boost their national school feeding efforts.

According to them, their research has indicated that, strong school meals programmes help children to learn and communities to prosper.

The Ghana School Feeding Programme which was rolled out in 2007 with nationwide coverage, is currently present in the ten regions and all 216 districts. The programme started with the aim of Feeding children in the public schools in deprived communities to increase enrollment in schools.

According to the National Secretariat estimation, the Programme feeds 1,728,682 children in beneficiary schools.

The research by the Imperial College London also established the increasing long-term benefits for health and nutrition the Ghana School Feeding programme has achieved.They also added that, the food made under the programme is fortified to combat nutrient deficiency in children.

Aside the nutritional and health benefits of the programme,The Imperial College London's findings also indicated that, a well-designed school feeding programme has multiple benefits. They listed a number of major benefits the Ghana School Feedings Programme has achieved including a boost in the primary school enrolment and attendance, raising educational achievement levels.

Additionally, The report highlights the economic benefits of school meals programmes that flow from the jobs they provide to cooks and caterers. They continued to state that, the School Feeding programme can also increase income and training for smallholder farmers who can benefit from guaranteed markets for their crops.

By: Farida Mohammed/ghanaguardian.com