Wawira Njiru’s view
Education and innovation are two of the few long-term policy levers available to governments to catalyze economic productivity and systemic change.
But no matter the quality of education, children won’t learn if they aren’t well fed. This is why across Africa and the Global South, in regions driving the highest population growth, more governments are turning renewed attention to meal programs at schools, the benefits of which go far beyond the confines of a classroom.
However, we need a systemic approach that is sustainable and scalable to meet the enormity of the challenge. We are proving this concept in Kenya at Food4Education, where we’ve adopted innovative technology to feed almost half a million children every day.
By applying business-sector skills we have been able to ensure our programs are designed for scale using data and technology at the heart of our approach.
We use electronic payments systems to streamline operations for children, parents, and schools while using data from those systems to provide real-time information to apps used by our cooking staff to minimize waste. We have centralized our food preparation and distribution, allowing us to increase capacity while driving down costs.
By using the innovation we see applied every day in the business world to the challenges of school feeding, we have been able to deliver hundreds of thousands of meals daily, with precision, efficiency and scalability.
When designed with local context, economies, and communities at the center, school meal programs can also stimulate entire value chains and agricultural systems. By sourcing ingredients from local farmers, programs create stable markets and promote sustainable agricultural practices. This localized approach transforms what might seem like a social expense into a catalyst for economic growth.
Beyond nutrition and education, these programs act as a nexus for broader development goals. They intersect with health initiatives in developing countries, offering platforms for deworming and vaccination campaigns. When climate disasters strike, they provide the essential social infrastructure to fend off starvation. And, in the long term, they contribute to a healthier, more skilled workforce capable of driving national growth, with the AfDB estimating that every $1 invested in childhood nutrition generates as much as $138 in better health and increased productivity.
From electronic payment to sustainable food production and sourcing, we have created a pan-African blueprint that can adapt to diverse contexts. In the next five years, we will expand to two new countries, and feed a total of 3 million children.
School feeding is more than a meal; it is one of the most effective investments in human capital anyone can make, a cornerstone of community development, and a pathway to a more equitable and prosperous future.
Wawira Njiru is a Kenyan social entrepreneur and nutritionist, and the founder and CEO of Food4Education.