Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has called on the government to prioritise financially stable caterers in the recruitment process for the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) to prevent frequent disruptions in meal services for schoolchildren.
Speaking on Channel One Newsroom on Sunday, May 18, Eduwatch’s Executive Director, Kofi Asare, highlighted the need for a more robust contract system, pointing out that many of the challenges facing the GSFP stem from the financial struggles of under-resourced caterers.
“The government should ensure that only caterers with the financial muscle to pre-finance their contracts are recruited,” Asare stated, adding that the practice of engaging underfunded vendors has often led to service interruptions and inconsistent meal quality.
Eduwatch has long championed reforms within the GSFP, advocating for decentralised contract management to improve transparency, efficiency, and accountability. The organisation argues that current centralised procurement processes contribute to delayed payments, forcing some caterers to exit the programme and leaving thousands of schoolchildren without regular meals.
Despite recent claims by the government that the number of GSFP beneficiaries has grown from 4 million to 4.2 million, Eduwatch insists that this progress is undermined by ongoing financial instability among caterers, which risks compromising the long-term sustainability of the initiative.
The education policy think tank maintains that reforming the caterer selection process is essential to securing the programme’s future and ensuring that it continues to support student retention and academic performance, particularly in deprived communities.
