Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has hinted that the government will in the upcoming budget increase the daily school feeding allocation per child from GHC 1.50 to GHC 2.00.
The minister is on Tuesday, March 11 expected to deliver the new government first budget. Consequently, the finance ministry has been engaging stakeholders and groups on their input into the budget.
Dr. Forson addressed concerns regarding the Ministry of Gender, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program, and the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), acknowledged that the current allocation was inadequate,
” Currently the government of Ghana pays One Cedi, fifty pesewas per child. Today, unfortunately, we will agree that this amount is too small and it can’t even buy one egg.”, he admitted
“I think I can broadly say that we intend to increase that to a minimum of two cedis per child per day,” he revealed, describing it as a “significant increase”, representing at least a 33% rise in the school feeding budget as an index to inflation.
The GSFP, introduced in 2005, has faced multiple funding challenges, including frequent delays in payments to caterers. In 2024, the erstwhile government raised the per-meal allocation from GHC 1.20 to GHC 1.50, but payments to caterers have remained inconsistent. Many have complained about receiving less than the approved amount, with some owed for several months.
In January 2025, the Minister nominee for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, acknowledged these payment delays during her vetting and pledged to address them. The GSFP later announced that 40 out of 71 cooking days owed for the first term of the 2024/2025 academic year had been settled, with the remaining 31 days expected to be cleared soon.
Dr. Forson also touched on the Ministry of Gender’s budget, emphasizing that it has received a substantial allocation to support its broader mandate, including tackling domestic violence. However, he declined to provide specific figures ahead of the official budget presentation.
He assured that further details would be made available once the budget is formally presented.
Voice of Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
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