Kenya has strengthened its role in the global fight against childhood hunger after being appointed the fourth Co-Chair of the School Meals Coalition, joining Brazil, Finland and France in leading international efforts to ensure children have access to healthy and nutritious meals at school.
The announcement was made during the Third Ministerial Session of the Global School Meals Coalition at the World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Rome on October 14, 2026. Kenya was represented by Cabinet Secretary for Education Julius Migos Ogamba, who described the appointment as both an honour and a responsibility, building on the country’s previous contributions to the initiative.
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Kenya hosted the Coalition’s Second Ministerial Meeting of the Task Force in Nairobi in 2024, bringing member states together to assess progress and identify priorities for expanding school feeding programmes. Discussions focused on strengthening political commitment, securing predictable and sustainable financing, improving programme quality and coverage, enhancing monitoring and evidence, and expanding advocacy.
According to the World Food Programme, approximately 466 million children worldwide currently receive school meals. Although coverage has increased by around 80 million children since 2020, millions of school-age children still lack access to these essential services. The Coalition continues to encourage governments to treat school meals as a strategic public investment capable of improving education, nutrition, public health and social protection.
Ogamba highlighted the wider economic and social benefits of school feeding, pointing to studies indicating that every dollar invested in feeding a child can generate up to nine dollars in social and economic returns. Beyond helping children access nutritious food, school meals can support school attendance, learning outcomes, household welfare and long-term human capital development.
Despite this progress, financing gaps and implementation challenges continue to limit the reach of national programmes. Kenya is therefore exploring innovative mechanisms to strengthen the sustainability of its own School Meals Programme. These include a clean cooking initiative designed to explore carbon financing opportunities and a proposed debt-for-food conversion being developed in partnership with the WFP. The latter could redirect savings from debt servicing towards long-term investments in food security and resilience.
As Co-Chair, Kenya intends to work alongside Brazil, Finland, France, other Coalition members and development partners to promote national ownership, mobilise sustainable financing and strengthen international cooperation. The country has also emphasised the importance of ensuring that African experiences and leadership remain central to the global school meals agenda.
The School Meals Coalition aims to ensure that every child can access a healthy and nutritious meal at school while helping countries establish strong, sustainable and nationally owned programmes. Kenya’s appointment adds an important African voice to this global effort, reinforcing the growing recognition that investing in children’s nutrition is fundamental to education, economic development and a more secure future.
