Influence of School Feeding Programme on Enrolment and Attendance in Primary Schools in Ogun State

This study investigates the influence of the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme on enrolment and attendance in public primary schools in Ogun State, South West Nigeria. School feeding programmes are recognised globally as dual-purpose interventions that simultaneously improve nutritional status and incentivise school participation among children from food-insecure households. In Ogun State, the programme was introduced progressively from 2019, creating an opportunity to assess its impact on school participation indicators. A quasi-experimental design was adopted, comparing enrolment and attendance data from 30 participating schools and 20 non-participating control schools across Abeokuta, Sagamu, and Ijebu-Ode local government areas before and after programme rollout. School register data supplemented by teacher-recorded daily attendance formed the primary data source, supported by head teacher interviews. Difference-in-differences analysis was applied. Results indicate that programme participation is associated with a statistically significant increase in both enrolment (average 18 percent) and daily attendance rates (average 12 percentage points) compared to control schools. The enrolment effect was strongest in the lowest socioeconomic quintile communities. The study concludes that the school feeding programme has a meaningful positive effect on school participation in Ogun State public primary schools. It recommends full programme coverage expansion to all public primary schools in the state, with special focus on rural communities, and strengthened quality monitoring to maintain nutritional standards across all participating schools.

Keywords: school feeding programme, enrolment, attendance, primary school, Ogun State.