- President William Ruto has set the first term of 2027 as the deadline for the rollout of a nationwide school meals programme.
- The Government is targeting increasing school meals coverage from about 2.6 million learners to 10 million by 2030.
President William Ruto has set the first term of 2027 as the deadline for the rollout of a nationwide school meals programme.
Ruto directed the Government to put in place a financing and implementation framework that could extend daily meals to learners across lower primary, upper primary and junior secondary schools.
He issued the directive on Tuesday during the Fourth Kenya Social Protection Conference in Kabete, Nairobi.
Ruto directed the Ministry of Education to work with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the National Treasury and other stakeholders to develop the policy, financing and implementation framework required for the 2027 rollout.
The directive marks an expansion of Kenya’s school feeding coverage, with the Government seeking to raise coverage from about 2.6 million learners to 10 million by 2030.
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Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has previously indicated that the Government wants to increase school meals coverage to 10 million learners by 2030.
The Government is yet to provide detailed guidelines on whether every public school in the country will qualify for the programme or how coverage will be determined across the 47 counties.
Kenya’s home-grown school meals model links school feeding to local agricultural production by enabling schools to purchase food from farmers and suppliers within their regions.
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President Ruto has also announced plans to establish and finance a Social Protection Fund aimed at making Government assistance to vulnerable households more predictable.
Before the first term of 2027, the Government is expected to translate the directive into operational policy, identify funding sources, establish procurement arrangements, assess school infrastructure and determine how national and county institutions will coordinate the programme.
By Hillary Muhalya
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