More than 4.5 million Ghanaian children are now benefiting from the Ghana School Feeding Programme every school day, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has disclosed.
The figure represents an increase from about 4.03 million pupils who benefited from the programme in 2024, reflecting an expansion in the government’s coverage of the initiative.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series, Dr Lartey said the expansion was part of efforts to strengthen social protection and ensure that schoolchildren have access to nutritious meals while receiving their education.
She said government had also increased funding for the programme over the past three years.
According to the Minister, GH¢1.393 billion was allocated in 2024 to provide meals for 4,029,580 pupils, with caterers receiving GH¢1.50 per meal.
In 2025, the allocation increased to GH¢1.788 billion, while the grant per meal was raised to GH¢2. Coverage also expanded to about 4.23 million pupils.
For 2026, government allocated GH¢1.982 billion to the programme, maintaining the GH¢2 per-meal grant while expanding coverage to more than 4.5 million children each school day.
Dr Lartey further disclosed that government had cleared outstanding caterer arrears from 2024 and paid for the first and second terms of the 2025/2026 academic year.
The Ministry has also stepped up monitoring of the programme, increasing the number of schools covered by its compliance monitoring from 4,419 in 2025 to 8,270 in 2026.
Additionally, 20,171 caterers and head cooks have received training in practical nutrition standards aimed at improving the quality and nutritional value of meals served to schoolchildren.
Dr Lartey described the Ghana School Feeding Programme as one of the most visible social protection interventions supporting children and families across the country.
She said continued investment in the programme would help improve the wellbeing of schoolchildren while strengthening Ghana’s broader social protection system.
