School feeding now reaches over 4.5 million pupils as budget rises to GH₵1.98bn

Pinned summary · as of 16:54

More than 4.5 million pupils are now fed daily through the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister Agnes Naa Momo Lartey told the Government Accountability Series. She said funding for the programme has grown to about GH₵1.98 billion for the current period, and that the amount spent per child each day has gone up.

What we know

• Ms Lartey said the school feeding programme covers more than 4.5 million pupils, up from about 4.03 million in 2024. Onua Online gave the exact current count as 4,527,636 children against 4,029,580 two years earlier.
• According to the minister, the programme's budget climbed from roughly GH₵1.39 billion in 2024 to about GH₵1.98 billion in the 2025/2026 period, an increase she put at 42 per cent.
• The minister said the daily grant for each child was raised by 33 per cent so that meals can be more nutritious. Onua Online reported the change as a move from GH₵1.50 to GH₵2.
• Ms Lartey spoke at the Government Accountability Series on 16 September. She said the expansion reflects the government's aim of improving children's nutrition while helping keep them in school.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Rainbow Radio Online quoted the minister as saying households on the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme rose from 350,000 in 2024 to 450,000 in 2026, and that the average bi-monthly payment grew 70 per cent, from GH₵334 to GH₵569.14. No other report has repeated these figures.
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  Rainbow Radio Online also reported Ms Lartey's statement that the Ghana Household Registry holds data on 11.24 million people and that 19,790 persons with disabilities were supported through the disability component of the District Assemblies Common Fund. These numbers are hers alone and have not been corroborated elsewhere.
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  Onua Online reported the minister's claims that caterer arrears from 2024 have been cleared and that the first and second terms of 2025/26 have been paid. She also said monitoring expanded from 4,419 schools in 2025 to 8,270 in 2026 and that 20,171 caterers and head cooks have been trained in nutrition standards. None of this has been confirmed by other reports.

Why it matters for Ghana

For many families in Ghana's public basic schools, the daily meal is a real part of a child's diet and can make it easier to send children to class. Caterers and cooks who supply the meals depend on prompt payment, so the minister's statement on cleared arrears will be tested by what they experience in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and rural districts alike. Whether the bigger grant per child translates into better food on the plate is the question parents and school heads will be asking.