Kenya secures seat at global school meals coalition

Kenya will work alongside Brazil, Finland and France to strengthen national school meals programmes, improve financing and ensure more children receive nutritious meals in schools. [Lewis Nyaundi, Standard]

Kenya has been appointed the fourth co-chair of the Global School Meals Coalition, with Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba calling for increased government investment and innovative financing to expand access to school feeding programmes.

Ogamba said Kenya would work alongside Brazil, Finland and France to strengthen national school meals programmes, improve financing and ensure more children receive nutritious meals in schools.

Speaking on Wednesday during the opening of the third Ministerial Session of the Global School Meals Coalition at the World Food Programme headquarters in Rome, Italy, Ogamba said Kenya’s new leadership role would build on its efforts to advance school feeding initiatives.

“Kenya is deeply honoured to officially join Brazil, Finland and France as the fourth Co-Chair of the School Meals Coalition,” he said.

The Cabinet Secretary said governments needed to sustain political commitment and explore alternative funding mechanisms to address the financing challenges facing school feeding programmes.

He cited Kenya’s ongoing clean cooking programme, which the government is exploring as a potential source of carbon financing to support its school meals initiative.

When President William Ruto shared a meal with pupils at Roysambu Primary School during the launch of the Nairobi School Feeding Programme on June 20, 2023. [PCS]

The government is also working with the World Food Programme on a proposed debt-for-food conversion that would redirect savings from debt servicing towards long-term investments in food security and resilience.

“This would redirect savings from debt servicing towards long-term investment in food security and resilience,” Ogamba said.

The proposed financing arrangements come as governments face pressure to expand school feeding programmes amid competing budgetary demands and the high cost of providing nutritious meals to learners.

Ogamba said school meals had benefits beyond education, including social protection, health and nutrition, making them a strategic public investment.

He cited studies indicating that every dollar invested in feeding a child generates up to nine dollars in social and economic returns.

Despite the benefits, he said millions of children remained unreached by school feeding programmes, while many countries continued to face financing and implementation challenges.

The CS said Kenya’s co-chairmanship would prioritise sustainable financing, stronger cooperation among governments and partners, and greater representation of African experiences in global discussions on school meals.

President William Ruto serving food to pupils at Mukarara Primary School in Dagoretti, Nairobi, on May 11, 2022. [PCS]

Kenya hosted the second Ministerial Meeting of the coalition’s Task Force in Nairobi in 2024, where participating countries identified key priorities for accelerating progress.

These included sustaining political commitment, securing predictable financing, improving the quality and reach of national programmes, empowering cities and municipalities, strengthening evidence and measuring results, and expanding advocacy.

Ogamba said the priorities had guided efforts to translate commitments into tangible results over the past two years.

The coalition has continued to attract more governments and development partners, with school meals increasingly recognised as an investment in children’s welfare and national development.

Ogamba said Kenya would work with other coalition members to ensure that every child could access a healthy and nutritious meal at school, while supporting countries to develop sustainable national feeding programmes.

“Our shared ambition remains clear: a future in which every child can access a healthy and nutritious meal in school, and in which every country can build a strong national school meals programme,” he said.