President William Ruto has assured Kenyans that by 2030, 10 million school-going children will receive healthy, nutritious food.
Ruto noted that school meals have far-reaching benefits including making adequate nutrition accessible, fostering learning, creating jobs, promoting sustainability and uplifting communities. He regretted that hunger remains a significant challenge to the well-being of many, particularly in arid regions.
As a result, Ruto revealed the government's goal on the school feeding programme.
"To address this, we have tripled the budgetary allocation for school feeding and set a clear goal: to expand the programme’s coverage from 2.6 million to 10 million children by 2030," he said.
The President spoke on Tuesday during the second ministerial meeting of the global school meals coalition.
Towards this end, Ruto said the government launched an operational plan to scale up the programme earlier in the month.
"We are committed to action and are fully determined to succeed," he said.
He noted that by 2018, the programme was fully integrated as a national initiative, now benefiting 2.6 million learners - a more than tenfold increase from the initial 240,000.
"The programme’s transformative impact extends beyond education, stimulating value chains within our agriculture and food systems and boosting our economy," Ruto said.
He added that it has been the country's long-held aspiration to maximise school enrollment and retention to ensure every child in Kenya has access to education.
Ruto stated that recognising that access to food and nutrition is a significant factor in keeping children in school.
Kenya introduced the School Meals Programme as early as 1966, just three years after its independence.
Initially, the programme was implemented only in Nairobi. However, the entry of the World Food Programme transformed the scale of the initiative, and the partnership enabled Kenya to expand nationally by 1980.
Ruto pointed out that Kenya is also addressing climate challenges by combining initiatives that promote resilience, including robust support for school meals, provision for local sourcing, and fostering sustainable practices such as clean cooking and the adoption of drought-resistant crops.
"Through advocacy under the “Call to Action for Climate-Friendly School Feeding,” we are embracing Eco-friendly solutions," he said.
The President called upon all partners to unite under the National School Meal Coalition to achieve the government's ambition.
"Kenya calls on other nations to join us in this shared quest to ensure no child is left behind," Ruto said.
