Wawira Njiru's school feeding initiative wins 2026 German Africa Prize

Kenyan social entrepreneur Wawira Njiru, founder and chief executive officer of Food4Education, will receive the 2026 German Africa Prize in Berlin on November 4 in recognition of her work in turning school feeding into a programme that supports education, jobs and local economic growth.

Njiru was hosted by German Ambassador to Kenya Sebastian Groth at his residence on Monday, October 19, 2026. Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali Radovan, will present the award at the Allianz Forum. The German Africa Foundation, which awards the prize, said her work shows how school feeding can go beyond providing meals to become an engine

Food4Education began as a modest initiative serving meals to 25 schoolchildren and has grown into a nationwide programme reaching more than 660,000 learners in over 1,900 schools across Kenya. It has served more than 200 million meals since Njiru founded it in 2012.

About 80 per cent of the food used in the programme is sourced from local smallholder farmers, giving them a reliable market for their produce. The initiative has also created more than 6,000 jobs, many of them for women and young people, in food preparation, kitchen management, logistics, food safety and technology.

How the model works

The model brings together families, schools, government funding and philanthropic support. The organisation uses its Tap2Eat digital platform to facilitate contributions towards school meals and improve the planning of food procurement, preparation and distribution. It also runs large-scale kitchens, including the solar- and steam-powered Giga Kitchen in Nairobi, designed to prepare meals efficiently for growing numbers of learners.

Food4Education is targeting one million children receiving daily school meals in Kenya by 2027. It is also sharing its experience with other African governments, and in Zambia it is supporting efforts to strengthen a nationally led school feeding system.

The German Africa Prize recognises individuals whose work makes significant contributions to Africa's development and addresses challenges of wider global relevance.