The World Food Program (WFP) said Tuesday the on-going implementation of its school feeding program that has targeted vulnerable children in Ethiopia is yielding fruits.

Yemisrach Aseffa, WFP program coordinator, told journalists that his body spends 11 million U.S. dollars in annual implementation expense.

The basic aim of the program is to increase education coverage and reduce number of dropouts, said Yemisrach.

She said the program, being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, is currently benefiting more than 600, 000 children.

Efforts would be deployed to raise the number of beneficiary children to 1 million in the years to come, said the WFP official.

Yemisrach said the program was being implemented predominantly in Afar, Oromia, South Ethiopia Peoples, Tigray and Somali states, where drought is noticeable.

She said education coverage in areas where the program has so far been implemented shows a 5-percent annual increase while the number of dropouts diminishes to 10 percent. The national figure concerning dropouts stands at 19 percent.

According to Yemisrach, efforts will be exerted on the sidelines to improve quality of education at project target areas.

More than 4 million school-age children are away from schools due to social and economic challenges, she said.

She called on other non-governmental organizations and capable segments of the society to involve in school feeding program while urging international donor organizations to extend assistance in the implementation of the program.

Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest and most indebted countries, which makes it particularly vulnerable to natural disasters such as drought.

Because of frequent periods of drought, Ethiopia is chronically unable to feed its population and has to rely to massive foreign aid.

Source: Xinhua