A recent research conducted by SEND-Ghana indicates that 45% of schools in sample districts under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) do not have access to water. The Chairperson of the working group of Civil Society Platform on Ghana and Education Advisor for SNV, Ms Adama Jehanfo stated that although 85% of schools had been supplied with water by the programme, 87% of them are not in use due to operational challenges. “The report reveals that 26% of the schools have no access to toilet facilities, while almost 87% of the schools lack hand washing facilities”.
[An audit commissioned by the Dutch government and undertaken in 2008 by the international accountancy firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers, found that after two years of implementation of the GFSP there was “widespread corruption” at the programme secretariat - IRIN, 12 Jun 2008. The National Coordinator of the GSFP, Mr Michael Nsowah, has since been dismissed as the head of the programme, according to a report on Joy FM radio on 22 September 2009.]
She noted that often times when Ghana school feeding is mentioned a picture of children eating is what immediately comes to mind. However, she said a lot of activities take place before the food is cooked. “How the food is purchased and produced, the energy source used in cooking, the type of water used to cook and drink, hygienic nature of the kitchen , and the environment, are all important complementary service play in the success of the GSFP, she outlined.
Ms Jehanfo was speaking at Water and Sanitation workshop under the theme, “Chattering the Way Forward in Addressing the Water and Sanitation Issues Affecting the GSFP” in Tamale. It was organized by SEND-Ghana and sponsored by SNV, IBIS, ActionAid Ghana, TRIAS, PLAN Ghana, CRS, FONG, UWRAP, SMA, NNED, New Energy , IFAD and ACDEP.
Ms Jehanfo noted that water is critical to the GSFP as no cooking can be done without water. “Cooking with no availability of potable water has diverse negative impact on health and quality of education, especially for the girls as they are often the ones selected to go searching for water”.
Source: Mahama Zakaria-Tamale, Public Agenda / allAfrica.com, 02 Oct 2009
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