President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, in a Citi News interview, said “centralisation always gives problems.”

He explained that the current centralised system where the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited distributes staple food to schools compounds the myriad of problems these institutions face.

Speaking on the subject, Mr. Carbonu suggested that government revisits the use of localized procurement where schools are allowed to purchase their food items.

As an example, he noted that “the schools around Ejura will get cheaper maize because maize production is the mainstay of the economy in and around Ejura.”

“When you get to around Tamale and its environs, yam would be cheaper than any other. The localisation of food supply was helpful at the time that the schools were engaged in the local purchase,” he added.

“I can assure you that buffer stock itself has taken things from people and is yet to pay, so they are having difficulty in even getting the resources to distribute to schools.”

Problem of storage

The National Buffer Stock Company Limited has however attributed the delay in distributing food to second-cycle educational institutions to the lack of storage facilities in the affected Senior High Schools.

According to the company, the lack of storage facilities hinders them from sending food supplies in excess of the storage capacity of the schools.

Its comments were in response to concerns raised by the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) for government to ensure that enough food is distributed to all schools across the country to avert any shortage.