- The national school feeding programme has received Sh3 billion annually for two consecutive financial years, well below the Sh7.8 billion to Sh12.7 billion the State Department for Basic Education says is needed for consistent coverage.
- The programme has covered approximately 2.65 million learners against a target of 2.7 million, leaving about 46,000 learners outside targeted coverage, as the government pursues a 10-million-child target by 2030.
- Parliament has previously restored a Sh4.9 billion allocation Treasury had proposed removing in the 2024/25 budget, following concerns led by Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi.
The national school feeding programme is operating on Sh3 billion a year, far below the Sh7.8 billion to Sh12.7 billion the State Department for Basic Education says is required annually to sustain consistent nationwide coverage, as the government works toward a target of feeding 10 million children by 2030.
Organised school meals in Kenya date back to 1966, when the National School Feeding Council was established. The programme was later complemented by the Maziwa ya Nyayo free milk initiative in 1979 and expanded through cooperation with the World Food Programme in the 1980s. In 2019, the World Food Programme completed its handover of the school feeding programme to the Kenyan government, leaving the State with primary responsibility for sustaining the national initiative, while international partners have continued to offer support.
The national programme currently covers approximately 2.65 million learners in public basic education institutions. A State Department performance report indicated that the programme fed about 2.65 million learners against a target of 2.7 million, leaving approximately 46,000 learners outside the targeted coverage.
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The programme received Sh3 billion in the 2024/25 financial year and a further Sh3 billion in 2025/26. The funding issue became particularly visible during the 2024/25 budget process, when Treasury initially removed a Sh4.9 billion allocation for school feeding. Parliamentarians pushed back, warning that withdrawing the funds would hurt children in some of Kenya’s poorest communities.
Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi was among those who opposed the proposed removal, arguing that some children attend school largely because they are guaranteed food there. The intervention resulted in Sh3 billion being allocated that year, with another Sh3 billion allocated the following financial year.
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Nairobi County’s Dishi na County programme, supported through partnerships including Food4Education, has demonstrated large-scale centralised meal preparation supporting hundreds of thousands of children in public primary schools and early childhood development centres.
A proposed School Feeding Bill is under consideration, which could transform school feeding into a more structured national programme and link it to the agricultural sector by connecting food procurement to smallholder farmers, cooperatives and organised producer groups.
By Hillary Muhalya
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