Your Excellency the Prime Minister of Niger;

Your Excellencies the Ministers;

The Representatives of Ministries;

Technical and Financial Partners;

Civil Society Representatives;

Distinguished Delegates;

Ladies and gentlemen;

Boys and girls,

I have the honour and great pleasure to express my gratitude to the African Union Member Statesfor endorsing the recommendation on the promotion of School Feeding programmes as a continental strategy for drivingsustainable development. While this decision by Heads of States and Government will play a critical role in improving education outcomes, eradicating hunger and poverty, italso calls on us to mark every 1st of March of each year, as the African Day of School Feeding.

Today we are gathered in Niger for the launch of the first event, courtesy of the hospitality of the Government of Niger, under the theme “Home Grown School Feeding- a conduit for Africa’s Sustainable Development”. I extend my deep gratitude to the Government of Niger for taking on this enormous responsibility, amidst numerous elections engagements. Let me add, that this is not in vain, we gather in Niger today, as a demonstration of our keen interest in our children, and the future of our Continent.

It is true that School Feeding programmes are not new to Africa, in fact, some among us are who we are today because of School meals. Countries that have been implementing them have experimented their impact on the access and retention of children, mainly of girls in school. For the governments of these countries, the key issue has always been to take all the necessary measures so that theexpenses allocated to these programmes are more efficient, yet, without overstretching the resources allocated to education.

As currently envisaged, School Feeding is a programme with various far reaching benefits going beyond education; to the areas of agriculture, nutrition, health and social development. Its connectionto local agriculture production,acts as a social safety net for vulnerable communities and a stimulus for national economic development.

We can say that the progress made, so far,led us towardsthese important conquests, for it is a conquest for Africa and our children; a conquest for local producers, a conquest for our agriculture. For our children it offers huge benefits to their education, health and nutrition, and a predictable market for small holders farmers.

The linkwith local production is a new approach which is actually a safety net that may be used in accessing food and stimulating local markets. It helps households to invest in productive activities and participate in human capital development, particularly in the form of financial assistance. Indeed, the ambitious objectives of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25) could not be achieved without a broad and integrated strategy gathering all the stakeholders and taking into account the needs of vulnerable communities. Thus, as School Feeding has been included in CESA 16-25, this programme also becomes a strong launching pad to stimulate local development and prevent malnutrition.

Allow me to recall that, in response to the request by the African Union Commission, the Republic of Niger, through her Minister of Primary Education and Literacy, and with the support of partners such asWFP and its Centre of Excellence in Brazil, an AU mission travelled to Brazil to draw inspiration from its model. Niger and other African countries also carry critical home grown lessons too that we can draw on. These various experiences are unanimous on the relevance of this programme to improve the retention of children in school, their nutritional status, and also the revenues of communities when related to local production; it is clear that the keyprioritiesof the post- 2015 Agenda and specifically those encompassed in the Agenda 2063 and CESA 16-25 are taken into account and well addressed through this programme.

Many African countries are developing school feeding programmes with great innovations, notably Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Lesotho and others.We will hear today about some of these practices, however I call upon the documentation of these lessons learned, so that these can be shared with others without re-inventing the wheel, and so that we can hasten our advancement towards a promising continental strategy for the development of our countries.

This is the essence of the study prescribed by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

Distinguished Delegates,

I hope that the recommendation of the Assembly for the promotion of school feeding programmes within the framework of CESA 16-25 will not remain a mere recommendation to be kept in the drawers of Ministries, but will mark the beginning of a process which offers various opportunities to strengthen the convergence of resources, skills and means. Its implementation shall significantly contribute to the achievement of Africa’s expectations expressed in the African Agenda by 2063. It will build the momentum to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

Long live the 1st March, African Day of School Feeding.

Thank you