How school meals are transforming education in Zamfara State, Nigeria
In February 2026, a joint team from IFPRI and the World Food Programme (WFP), alongside government partners from Nigeria’s National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), visited Zamfara
- nutrition
- school feeding
- children
By Oliver Kiptoo Kirui, Chibuzo Nwagboso, Asabe Maidawa, and Aisha OloladeMarch 27, 2026
Key takeaways
•A state-sponsored school meal program is boosting enrollment and attendance in Zamfara, giving children a strong incentive to come to school.
•School meals support communities, creating income for local women and strengthening local food systems.
•Scaling the program will require better infrastructure, monitoring, and consistent funding to reach more children—especially the hardest-to-reach.
On a recent morning in Zamfara State in northwestern Nigeria, children lined up patiently at Danturai Primary School, bowls in hand. For many of them, this was more than just a meal. It was a major reason to come to school.
In February 2026, a joint team from IFPRI and the World Food Programme (WFP), alongside government partners from Nigeria’s National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), visited Zamfara. Our mission was simple but urgent: to understand how the state’s school meal program—a recent effort, begun in 2025—is shaping education outcomes and whether it can help address one of Zamfara’s most pressing challenges: getting children into school and keeping them there.