Feeding or farming?

By Enoch YOUNG

“Why spend billions buying food when our schools can grow it? Ghana’s senior high school farms, if properly utilised, could feed students, reduce government expenditure, and create future agribusiness leaders.”

Ghana spends billions of cedis each year feeding students in public senior high schools, yet many of these schools sit on fertile land that produces little or nothing. Students continue to struggle with hunger, poor nutrition, and rising food costs. The contradiction is glaring: the country funds consumption while neglecting production. Until this imbalance is corrected, no amount of government feeding intervention will sustainably solve the problem.

Nearly all government senior high schools have school farms and agricultural departments. These farms are intended to supplement school feeding, reduce costs, improve nutrition, and provide hands-on agricultural training. Yet most remain underutilised. Meals are limited, food remains expensive, and many students struggle to eat balanced diets or even three meals a day. Billions spent without yield

Budget figures expose the scale of inefficiency. In the 2025 national budget, the government allocated GH¢1.788 billion to the School Feeding Programme — a 33% increase from the previous GH¢1.344 billion allocation. Per-meal costs were raised from GH¢1.50 to GH¢2.00 per child per day.

Even with billions committed, schools still rely on external food sources. If Ghana has the land, labour, and institutional frameworks within schools, why continue spending so heavily on purchased meals? A fraction of these funds could transform school farms into productive, revenue-generating assets, reducing costs and enhancing food security.

The Problem: Underutilized Assets

School farms are often treated as demonstration plots or occasional student labour exercises. Agricultural departments frequently lack modern inputs: improved seeds, fertilisers, irrigation systems, storage facilities, and mechanisation. Reliance on rainfall makes production inconsistent and vulnerable to climate shocks.

Equally concerning is the disconnect between agricultural departments and school kitchens. Even when crops are harvested, structured systems rarely exist to ensure produce reaches dining halls. Schools remain dependent on external markets, exposing them to price fluctuations and compromising nutrition.

Economic and Social Consequences

Rising feeding costs force caterers to reduce portion sizes or limit nutritional variety. Students, particularly those from low-income households, often go hungry. Poor nutrition negatively impacts health, learning outcomes, and long-term productivity.

Students graduate without practical agricultural skills, reinforcing the perception that farming is unprofitable. Schools that could serve as hubs of innovation and food production instead reflect inefficiency and missed economic opportunity.

Sustainable Solutions: Production Over Consumption

School farms must be treated as strategic, productive assets rather than optional academic exercises.

MoFA, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES), should equip schools with improved seeds, fertilisers, basic mechanisation, irrigation systems, and storage facilities to enable year-round production. Extension officers should guide students and teachers on crop selection, soil management, pest control, irrigation, and post-harvest handling.

Properly managed school farms could supply a substantial portion of school meals, improving nutrition and reducing feeding costs. Surplus produce could be sold to surrounding communities, generating revenue to sustain operations, support student projects, and strengthen local food systems. Beyond cost savings, students would gain practical agricultural and entrepreneurial skills, preparing them to participate meaningfully in Ghana’s agribusiness sector.

Conclusion: Rethink Government Spending

Short-term feeding programs are unsustainable and fiscally inefficient. Ghana already possesses the land, labour, and institutional framework to produce food internally. By investing strategically in school farms, the government could reduce reliance on external markets, improve student nutrition, empower youth with practical skills, and save billions in public expenditure.

Sustainable food security begins where learning meets production. Ghana must decide whether to continue spending billions on feeding programs or to invest smartly in school farms that deliver both education and economic returns. The choice is clear — and urgent.

Email: [email protected]

The post Feeding or farming? appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

Read Full Story