Eduwatch Africa has called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) to urgently reform the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) to ensure efficiency, fairness, and accountability.

In a statement released on Sunday, May 18, Eduwatch acknowledged the ministry’s ongoing efforts to improve the programme but raised several concerns that could distract progress if not addressed.

One major issue highlighted was the timing of the recent termination of all catering contracts under the GSFP.

Eduwatch noted that this move, announced on 2nd May 2025, just one working day before the reopening of basic schools for the third term, has had a negative impact on school attendance.

“The GSFP is a major source of nutrition and has improved retention in many schools, especially in deprived areas. Terminating contracts of caterers ahead of school reopening has negatively affected school attendance,” the statement said. It is suggested that the re-contracting process could have taken place during the long vacation between July and September to avoid disrupting the academic calendar.

Eduwatch also questioned the accuracy of the reported number of beneficiaries. “In June 2024, government announced 4 million GSFP beneficiaries. That same year, many caterers abandoned their posts due to debt owed by government. Surprisingly, the government in the 2025 Budget Statement announced 4.2 million GSFP beneficiaries. This does not support the evidence on the ground, as the number of pupils being fed daily continues to decline,” the group stated.

Concerns were also raised about the financial capacity of caterers to pre-finance contracts while maintaining quality. Citing the Auditor-General’s report, Eduwatch stressed that the ability of caterers to deliver quality meals consistently is key to improving the efficiency of the programme.

Another challenge highlighted was the weak monitoring and accountability systems within the GSFP.

Eduwatch pointed to issues such as enrolment padding, poor food quality, and non-compliance with feeding guidelines, all of which persist due to ineffective oversight.

The group also noted that in September 2023, the Auditor-General reported over GHC 2.5 million in wrongful payments to non-contracted caterers and overpayments to others, but it remains unclear whether these funds have been recovered.

The statement further revealed serious disparities in the programme’s reach. A comparison of districts showed that Ga West, which is relatively less deprived, had 92 percent of public kindergartens and primary schools benefiting from the programme, while Tatale-Sanguli, one of the most deprived districts, had only 17 percent coverage. Eduwatch said this undermines the government’s own commitment to equity under the GSFP.

To address these issues, Eduwatch made several recommendations. These include expediting decentralised procurement and contract management, auditing current beneficiary data, and implementing a digital tracking system to monitor delivery. The group also urged the MoGCSP to hold a national forum to seek stakeholder input on reform strategies.

They added that the government should work with the Ministries of Finance and Local Government to ensure the timely disbursement of funds through local government budgets and called for mechanisms to recover all wrongful and excess payments made to caterers. “Implementation funds should be incorporated into local government budgets and disbursed promptly,” the statement stressed.

Eduwatch further urged the ministry to ensure the full rollout of a digital invoicing system based on a credible database and to review selection criteria for district-level beneficiaries in line with the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index to promote fairness in coverage.