Co-chair Taskforce

Kenya

Member since

July 2021

Kenya has made significant progress in strengthening its school meals programme through policy reforms, enhanced coordination, expanded coverage and innovative approaches to sustainable funding. Key milestones include the approval of the National School Meals Policy, the establishment of the National Chapter of the School Meals Coalition, and efforts to strengthen links between school meals, local food systems and environmental sustainability.

2.6 Million

Total children receiving school meals

6.41 Million

Children enrolled in primary school

25.73 Million

Total investment in school meals (USD)

Figures reflect the latest available data from the State of School Feeding Worldwide report, national reporting and global sources. Governments may update data more frequently, so values may differ from most recent national statistics. Reference year, source and further details are available in the School Meals Coalition Global Database.

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National Commitments

Commitment submitted on
April 2023
Declaration signed by the Ministry of Education

Expand the coverage from the current 1.9 million children to universal coverage by 2030.
Develop a national policy on school meals by June 2023.
Establish a national school meals coalition and hold annual school meals stakeholder conferences with the aim of strengthening national coordination of the programme.
Roll out a digitalized school meals data and reporting module within the National Education Management Information System by December 2023.
Work with multiple stakeholders to introduce green technologies that provide clean energy solutions to support safe food preparation.
Encourage school gardens through the re- established 4-k clubs for introduction of healthy diets and for the sustainability of the school meals programme.

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National Progress Reports

Reporting year

Programme Design and Coverage

Kenya has expanded its national school meals programme from 1.9 million children in 2023 to more than 3.2 million in 2026, with a goal of universal coverage by 2030.
Kenya is advancing innovations to improve the quality and sustainability of school meals. Pilot initiatives are strengthening links between schools and smallholder farmers through aggregator models, clean cooking solutions, school gardens and 4-K Clubs (“Kuungana, Kufanya, Kusaidia Kenya” or “Join together, to act, to help Kenya”) are helping create stronger links between school meals, nutrition, local food production and environmental sustainability. Progress is also being made to integrate school meals into the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) to enhance monitoring, reporting and planning.

Policy

The National School Meals Policy was approved in 2026 following extensive stakeholder consultations, strengthening the framework for implementation and institutionalization of school meals. Kenya also completed a Sustainable Financing Strategy study to identify pathways for programme expansion and sustainability in the long term.

Governance and Coordination

Kenya established the National Chapter of the School Meals Coalition, the country's first multi-stakeholder platform dedicated to school meals. In its first year, the Chapter drove progress on policy, financing, partner coordination, local food procurement, clean cooking and inclusion, helping align stakeholders behind the national scale-up agenda.

Next steps

To advance implementation and sustainable financing, the National Chapter has established a committee to assess and recommend sustainable financing options such as blended finance, domestic resource mobilization, climate finance, private sector engagement and other innovative mechanisms.
A national School Meals Programme Summit is planned to position school meals as an investment in human capital and sustainable development, align stakeholders and mobilize resources towards the goal of reaching 10 million children.
The National Chapter will continue mapping partners and strengthening reporting through the national coordination mechanism to improve visibility of coverage, resources and gaps, while enhancing transparency, accountability and collective action.

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Events

Resources

Paper

School Meals Financing

The Political Economy of School Meals: Financing and Governance

This report examines why school meals, despite their broad policy appeal, are financed and governed so differently across countries. The starting point is that evidence on nutrition, education, and welfare outcomes is often not enough to explain public investment.

This report develops an empirically grounded political economy account of school meals financing and governance. It combines cross-country analysis with case studies of Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, and Somalia. The analysis asks what political gains governing coalitions obtain from investing in school meals, including electoral credit, legitimacy, patronage, social cohesion, international standing, and evidence of government effectiveness. It also asks which actors—whether national leaders, line ministries, subnational governments, or delivery actors—benefit politically. Additionally, it examines how political narratives make the value of feeding children salient to both decision-makers and the public.

Advocacy & Policy briefs

Health & Nutrition School Meals Financing

Health Taxes for School Meals: Unlocking Fiscal Space for School Health and Nutrition in Africa

This briefing paper explores how health taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages can unlock additional domestic financing for school meals and school health programmes across Africa. It highlights the significant untapped fiscal potential of health taxes and demonstrates how redirecting a portion of these revenues could expand access to school meals, strengthen school health and nutrition programmes and support complementary investments such as water, sanitation and hygiene in schools. It presents evidence on financing gaps, outlines the triple benefits of health taxes for governments and includes country simulations from Burundi, Kenya and Uganda illustrating how tax reforms could mobilize resources to expand school meal coverage.

Stories

Kenya

National Commitments

Commitment submitted on
April 2023
Declaration signed by the Ministry of Education