Abstract

The study assessed the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme of public elementary school pupils in Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria. It was done with a view to determine its effects on school enrolment and retention, academic performance, anthropometric status and the dietary diversity of the pupils. The study adopted multi-stage sampling in getting the sample size, survey research design obtaining its data from primary sources which was obtained through a structured questionnaire administered on 427 respondents in 16 randomly selected public elementary schools in Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria. The questionnaire were retrieved and data analysed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that pupils were fed three days through the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (99.5%), It was also found that the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria has resulted in an increase in pupils’ enrolment (4.43%), retention (4.15%), and punctuality (4.72%), in school attendance and as well reduced the rate of dropout in schools (4.00%). It has also enhanced the pupils’ performance in curricular and extracurricular activities (3.29%), increased pupils concentration during teaching (2.97%), improved pupils understanding of lessons taught (2.69%) as well as pupils thinking efficiently in class during lessons (2.50%). According to their Height for Age Z-scores, majority ofthe respondents were normal (66.5%), while (19.7%) were mildly stunted, however, (2.1%) were moderately stunted while (50%) were severely stunted and a mean height for age of(2.14%) was recorded amongst the pupils in the study area. In addition, majority of the respondents (78%) had low dietary diversity score in terms of what they eat at home while (22%) had medium dietary diversity score. This suggests a low dietary intake eaten at home within the pupils in the study area. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that home grown school feeding programme has a positive effect on pupil’s enrolment and retention as it boosted enrolment, increased attendance and reduced drop-out rate in public primary schools in Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria. It is recommended that Federal Government should double its efforts to address the gaps identified in the programme implementation in order to sustain the impressive pupils enrolment and performance.