The Asante-Akim North District Assembly has taken steps to boost the NEPAD School Feeding Programme in the District. The Assembly has taken advantage of the vacation of basic schools to assemble the various cooks engaged under the programme at Juansah for a two-day workshop on food handling and proper sanitation practices. The workshop, which also sought to sensitise participants on the need to use the right amount of nutrients in preparing meals, was attended by 18 participants drawn from nine schools being used for a pilot project in the District. Mrs Martha Armah, resource person from the District Office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), implored the participants to always work under strict hygienic condition to avert contaminating meals of the pupils. She noted that food was essential in the early development of children and called for concerted effort from stakeholders to sustain the programme. Mrs Armah further pointed out that providing pupils with highly nutritious meals would not only ensure their speedy growth but also fight against malnutrition, which could affect their academic performance. She commended the Assembly for facilitating the workshop and advocated more of such initiatives to adequately equip the cooks to efficiently discharge their duties. Mr Emmanuel Kobi, Co-ordinator of the Programme, said the workshop formed part of the Assembly's efforts to sustain the programme and also ensure the children were well fed. He disclosed that plans were afoot to plant oranges in various schools for pupils to enrich their meals and ensure balanced diet. Source: GNA