MOMBASA, Kenya, Sep 12 – Food4Education has secured renewed backing from the Government of France to further strengthen its nationwide school feeding partnership, extending support to vulnerable learners in Kisumu, Mombasa, and Kakamega counties.
This support ensures that more children in Kisumu, Mombasa, and Kakamega counties will receive daily nutritious meals throughout the school year.
This expansion will enable the program to impact over 19,000 students across Kenya, including 7,600 in Nairobi, 5,000 in Mombasa, 4,000 in Kisumu, and 2,503 in Kakamega.
Many of these learners come from low-income households facing food insecurity, a proven barrier to education.
In Kenya, over 60% of children experience inadequate nutrition, a factor that critically undermines brain development, school attendance, and long-term academic performance.
By ensuring learners receive a reliable daily meal, school feeding programs such as Food4Education’s have proven to improve retention, boost concentration, and enhance learning outcomes.
According to the World Bank, interruptions in school feeding correlate directly with increased dropout rates and absenteeism.
This renewed collaboration highlights both France’s dedication to social equity, child nutrition, and access to education, and Food4Education’s leadership in delivering scalable, sustainable solutions.
Together, they represent a blueprint for ending child hunger and ensuring all Kenyan children can thrive in mind, body, and future.
“This partnership with the French government goes beyond meals. It’s about restoring dignity and creating opportunity for children who would otherwise struggle to learn on an empty stomach. Expanding this partnership into Kisumu, Mombasa, and Kakamega means thousands more learners will have the nutrition they need to stay in school, focus in class, and thrive. Our goal remains clear: no child in Kenya should be forced to learn while hungry,” said Wawira Njiru, Founder and CEO of Food4Education.
“No child should be hungry at school. France is proud to stand alongside Food4Education in delivering daily school meals to vulnerable learners. In Nairobi, we have already seen how a reliable meal can improve attendance, concentration, and engagement. Extending this program to Kisumu, Mombasa, and Kakamega will transform even more young lives. As a co-chair of the worldwide School Meal Coalition, France believes that is an investment in Kenya’s future and a reflection of our deep and enduring partnership with Kenyan communities,” said H.E. Arnaud Suquet, Ambassador of France to Kenya.
This announcement also coincided with the launch of Food4Education’s second central kitchen in Mombasa County in Changamwe.
The new facility has the capacity to serve 20,000 meals per day, complementing the county’s existing kitchen that already provides over 25,000 meals daily.
Together, the kitchens strengthen Mombasa’s school feeding efforts, ensuring more children receive reliable, nutritious meals every school day. Commenting during the launch, H.E. Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir, Governor of Mombasa County, said: “We are grateful to partners like the French Embassy and Food4Education, as this partnership demonstrates that school feeding is not just a social program but a critical investment in education, human capital, and economic growth. Over the past three years, our school feeding initiatives have reached more than 25,000 learners daily, served over 9 million meals, created more than 145 jobs, and strengthened local agriculture – and with this new expansion, these numbers will rise even further. This is how we build a stronger foundation for Mombasa’s children and Kenya’s future.”
Food4Education Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wawira Njiru stated that 6 in 10 Kenyan children still lack adequate nutrition.
Njiru stated that without it, they struggle to concentrate, to stay in school, and to realize their full potential.
“At Food4Education, our vision is clear: a Kenya where every child, in every classroom, is nourished and ready to learn. We believe that access to a nutritious meal in school should not be a privilege but a right. Our central kitchens are not just facilities; they are the engines of that vision, designed to prove that large-scale, cost-effective, and sustainable school feeding is possible,” he stated.
“We imagine a future where hunger is no longer a barrier to education, where every county invests in its children, and where the simple act of a shared meal fuels equality, opportunity, and national progress.”
Since 2021, France has co-chaired the global School Meals Coalition, championing the right of every child to learn on a full stomach.
Over the same period, it has invested €140 million worldwide in school feeding. In Kenya, the French Embassy is a proud partner of Food4Education since 2023, supporting the expansion of its locally led programme.
