Pupils of New Sudan Nursery and Primary School in Bor, Jonglei State, line up for mid-morning meal on October 8, 2021 | Credit | Charles Wote/Eye Radio

The World Food Program has announced resuming a school feeding program that was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The school feeding program is a new strategy designed to enhance the production and purchases of food within the country for the 2020 to 2024 school feeding program.

The strategy guides the implementation of the School Feeding Program using food locally produced across South Sudan.

The program will benefit half a million school-going children and improve performance across the country.

WFP Acting Chief Adeyinka Badejo-Sanogo said the agency is working to resume nutrition support to children and women.

Badejo made the announcement during a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affair on the food security situation in Juba on Friday.

“With continue displacement as a result of subnational conflict, which also increases humanitarian need, we were the very concern of rising of food prices the cost of fuel has gone up and the cost of food is going up, this also going to have interments negative impact on poor and vulnerable families,” Badejo-Sanogo said.

“We have discussed all this issue with the deputy minister and we are also raising this concern with our donors who have committed to support WFP so that we will be able to resume.”

The UN’s food agency started the current form of the School Feeding Program in the then, Southern Sudan in 2003.

WFP reports show that school enrolment and attendance rates increased to approximately 70 percent in 2018 following the expansion of the school meals program.