From Farm to Classroom: How Local Food Systems are Feeding Kenya’s Future

A joint partners mission to Embu shows how Kenya’s home-grown school feeding links farmers to schools, turning local harvests into meals that support learning.

The United Nations, development partners and Government officials conducted a joint field mission to Embu County to examine Kenya’s home-grown school feeding programme, which is supported by the Joint SDG Fund, and its connection to local agricultural production.

The joint mission brought together representatives from the Government of Kenya, United Nations agencies, development partners and diplomatic missions to interact directly with farmers, cooperatives and schools participating in the programme. The delegation visited farmer aggregation groups supplying food to schools before travelling to St. Luke’s School for the Deaf, where meals prepared from locally sourced food are served to learners.

The programme links agriculture, markets and education through a single system. Smallholder farmers supply food through cooperatives, schools purchase locally produced crops and learners receive nutritious meals that support health and learning.

Kenya is working to expand this model significantly. The Government aims to scale school feeding from about 2.6 million learners today to up to 10 million children by 2030, which would make it one of the largest programmes of its kind in Africa.

During the mission, the delegation also paid a courtesy call to the Governor of Embu County, Hon. Cecily Mutitu Mbarire, who welcomed the initiative and highlighted its importance for education in the county.

The Governor noted that school feeding programmes have strengthened both attendance and retention of learners across Embu.

“School feeding has strengthened attendance and retention of learners in Embu,” he said.

Seeing the System Up Close

The first stop during the mission was a cooperative that aggregates produce from farmers across Embu County.

Through this system, farmers consolidate their harvests, store produce and negotiate better prices before supplying food to schools and other institutional buyers. The approach allows farmers to avoid selling to brokers who traditionally offer low prices immediately after harvest.

Among the farmers receiving the delegation was Hellen Kamunda, a member of the Gachigethiori farmer group, which supplies produce to schools under Kenya’s home-grown school feeding programme. The group is implementing the Kenya Guidelines on Food Production for School Meals, an operational tool supporting sustainable local production and linking farmers directly to institutional markets under the country’s emerging national school meals policy.

Hellen explained how aggregation has improved opportunities for farmers.

“Once farmers aggregate their food together, they cut the burden of brokers who usually give very poor prices. The farmer can get a good amount of money which helps to pay school fees and improve their lives.”

Training in improved agricultural practices has strengthened productivity. Farmers have adopted soil and water conservation methods, climate-smart farming techniques and water harvesting systems that help maintain yields even during difficult seasons.

“Before we were introduced to these technologies, production was very poor,” another farmer explained. “From one acre of maize, we could harvest only 30 or 40 kilograms. Now we can harvest three to five bags even when the rain is poor.”

Aggregation has also allowed farmers to increase incomes collectively. In one recent season, a farmers’ group sold maize, sorghum and green grams worth more than 100,000 Kenya shillings (approximately $770) through the cooperative.

For many farmers, supplying food to schools has created a strong sense of connection with their communities.

“I felt very humbled to see the children eating the food that we have produced. It makes us proud to know the food is clean, safe and helping them grow.”

Where the Food Reaches Children

The mission later visited St. Luke’s School for the Deaf, where the connection between agriculture and education becomes visible.

The school hosts learners from across Kenya, many from households facing economic challenges. For many students, school meals provide the most reliable source of daily nutrition.

To complement food supplied through the programme, the school maintains gardens and agricultural projects that produce vegetables and fruits used in the kitchen. These activities are integrated into practical learning for students.

Michael Nyaga, the school principal, explained that school feeding has had a direct impact on attendance and retention.

“For St. Luke’s School for the Deaf, inclusive school feeding means very high retention of learners. Learners insist on coming back to school because they know they are in a place where they are taken care of.”

The programme has also contributed to healthier learners.

“We have very healthy students. Our learners feed well and we rarely see nutritional challenges.”

Beyond nutrition, the school farm equips learners with skills they can apply in their communities after completing their education.

“We train our learners in food sustainability so that when they leave school they can integrate into the community and even earn a living.”

A Shared Effort to Strengthen Food Systems

Home-grown school feeding connects farmers, schools and communities through one integrated system. This approach is supported through joint work between national and county Governments, United Nations agencies and development partners. Technical support to farmers, financing for rural production and strengthened school feeding systems help link food production with education outcomes.

Development partners and diplomatic representatives in the mission included the French Ambassador to Kenya and officials from the Embassies of Sweden, Germany, Finland and Brazil, alongside philanthropic partners such as the Rockefeller Foundation and Novo Nordisk. They were joined by representatives from the national Government of Kenya, officials from the County Government of Embu, which hosted the visit, and United Nations agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

Development partners supporting food systems and school feeding initiatives are also closely following Kenya’s progress.

Hanna Carlsson from the Embassy of Sweden in Kenya, which supports food systems and school feeding initiatives, said the approach links several development priorities at once.

“Connecting local farmers to school meals strengthens agriculture, improves nutrition and helps children stay in school.”

As Kenya works towards expanding school feeding to millions of more learners, the programme offers a practical model for strengthening food systems while investing in the country’s future generations. 

Note:

All joint programmes of the Joint SDG Fund are led by UN Resident Coordinators and implemented by the agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations development system. With sincere appreciation for the contributions from the European Union and Governments of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland for a transformative movement towards achieving the SDGs by 2030.

This story was originally published by the UN team in Kenya. Please visit the UN team's website for more information about the UN's work in Kenya.