Wawira Njiru, Founder and CEO of Food4Education, has won the 2026 German Africa Prize for transforming school feeding.
Founded in 2012, Food4Education is an award-winning, locally rooted and African-led organisation working to end classroom hunger through sustainable, nutritious and affordable school feeding programmes.
Under Njiru’s leadership, the organisation has developed a model that goes beyond charity by connecting children, families, farmers, technology and government to build sustainable school-feeding systems.
Its meals are designed to be nutritious, affordable and locally sourced, with a focus on nutrient-dense foods and seasonal vegetables. Meals are prepared in verified safe kitchens and served hot to children.
Food4Education has also focused on keeping school meals affordable, with a daily meal costing about US$0.30 or less. This is achieved through efficiencies across the supply chain, from sourcing and preparation to distribution.
The organisation’s approach is rooted in a simple reality: hungry children struggle to learn, concentrate and develop to their full potential. Yet across Africa, effective, affordable and sustainable school-feeding programmes remain the exception rather than the norm.
Food4Education seeks to change this by working with governments and communities to build locally owned systems that make nutritious school meals accessible at scale while supporting local farmers and strengthening African food systems.
The German Africa Foundation says Njiru’s approach demonstrates how school feeding can become part of a wider economic system, strengthening local food production, creating jobs and supporting communities.
For some children in Kenya, the meal served at school may be the main meal they receive during the day. But behind that meal is a much larger network of farmers, workers, technology and logistics.
About 80 per cent of the food supplied by Food4Education comes from smallholder farmers, giving them a reliable market for their produce while helping schools access locally sourced food.
The organisation has also grown into a significant employer, with more than 6,000 people working across kitchens, food safety, logistics, supply chains and technology, many of them women and young people.
That is the shift at the centre of Njiru’s work: the school meal is no longer viewed simply as an isolated intervention, but as part of a wider local economy.
“For a long time, school meals were viewed as charity. We’ve proven that it’s economic infrastructure,” Njiru told DW.
From 25 children to more than 660,000
Njiru started Food4Education while still a student, initially providing meals to just 25 children. Her early ambition was to grow the programme to 100 children.
Today, the organisation reaches more than 660,000 children across over 1,900 schools, having served more than 200 million meals.
Technology has played an important role in enabling that growth.
Through Tap2Eat, families can contribute towards meals using wearable NFC wristbands or cards. The technology also helps Food4Education plan procurement, production and distribution across its kitchens.
The organisation says it can provide a nutritious meal for roughly 30 cents, while keeping food waste below two per cent.
An African solution to a global problem
The German Africa Prize comes at a time when food security is under increasing pressure from conflict, climate volatility and fragile supply chains.
The German Africa Foundation’s jury described Njiru’s work as an “African solution to a global problem,” recognising its ability to connect food security with economic participation and local value chains.
The model is also beginning to extend beyond Kenya.
After more than a decade of building and refining its programme locally, Food4Education is sharing its knowledge, technology and operational expertise with other African governments. In Zambia, for example, the organisation is supporting efforts to strengthen a nationally led school-feeding system.
Food4Education is also aiming to reach one million children in Kenya by 2027, highlighting the scale of its ambitions.
Why the recognition matters
Njiru’s recognition is therefore about more than the number of children receiving meals.
It reflects a growing understanding that social challenges can also be addressed through systems that create economic opportunity.
A school meal puts food on a child’s plate. But when that food is purchased from a local farmer, prepared by a local worker and delivered through a locally built system, it can also generate income, create jobs and strengthen local markets.
That is the model Njiru has spent years building.
The German Africa Prize will be presented to her on November 4 in Berlin by Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali Radovan.
For Njiru, the recognition comes as Food4Education continues to expand. For Kenya and the wider continent, her story offers a different way of looking at school feeding—not simply as a cost to governments or a charitable intervention, but as an investment in children, local economies and Africa’s future.
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Wawira Njiru, Founder and CEO of Food4Education, has won the 2026 German Africa Prize for transforming school feeding and advancing efforts to end classroom hunger.
Founded in 2012, Food4Education is an award-winning, locally rooted and African-led organisation working to end classroom hunger through sustainable, nutritious and affordable school feeding programmes.
Under Njiru’s leadership, the organisation has developed a model that goes beyond charity by connecting children, families, farmers, technology and government to build sustainable school-feeding systems.
Its meals are designed to be nutritious, affordable and locally sourced, with a focus on nutrient-dense foods and seasonal vegetables. Meals are prepared in verified safe kitchens and served hot to children.
Food4Education has also focused on keeping school meals affordable, with a daily meal costing about US$0.30 or less. This is achieved through efficiencies across the supply chain, from sourcing and preparation to distribution.
The organisation’s approach is rooted in a simple reality: hungry children struggle to learn, concentrate and develop to their full potential. Yet across Africa, effective, affordable and sustainable school-feeding programmes remain the exception rather than the norm.
Food4Education seeks to change this by working with governments and communities to build locally owned systems that make nutritious school meals accessible at scale while supporting local farmers and strengthening African food systems.
The German Africa Foundation says Njiru’s approach demonstrates how school feeding can become part of a wider economic system, strengthening local food production, creating jobs and supporting communities.
For some children in Kenya, the meal served at school may be the main meal they receive during the day. But behind that meal is a much larger network of farmers, workers, technology and logistics.
About 80 per cent of the food supplied by Food4Education comes from smallholder farmers, giving them a reliable market for their produce while helping schools access locally sourced food.
The organisation has also grown into a significant employer, with more than 6,000 people working across kitchens, food safety, logistics, supply chains and technology, many of them women and young people.
That is the shift at the centre of Njiru’s work: the school meal is no longer viewed simply as an isolated intervention, but as part of a wider local economy.
“For a long time, school meals were viewed as charity. We’ve proven that it’s economic infrastructure,” Njiru told DW.
From 25 children to more than 660,000
Njiru started Food4Education while still a student, initially providing meals to just 25 children. Her early ambition was to grow the programme to 100 children.
Today, the organisation reaches more than 660,000 children across over 1,900 schools, having served more than 200 million meals.
Technology has played an important role in enabling that growth.
Through Tap2Eat, families can contribute towards meals using wearable NFC wristbands or cards. The technology also helps Food4Education plan procurement, production and distribution across its kitchens.
The organisation says it can provide a nutritious meal for roughly 30 cents, while keeping food waste below two per cent.
An African solution to a global problem
The German Africa Prize comes at a time when food security is under increasing pressure from conflict, climate volatility and fragile supply chains.
The German Africa Foundation’s jury described Njiru’s work as an “African solution to a global problem,” recognising its ability to connect food security with economic participation and local value chains.
The model is also beginning to extend beyond Kenya.
After more than a decade of building and refining its programme locally, Food4Education is sharing its knowledge, technology and operational expertise with other African governments. In Zambia, for example, the organisation is supporting efforts to strengthen a nationally led school-feeding system.
Food4Education is also aiming to reach one million children in Kenya by 2027, highlighting the scale of its ambitions.
Why the recognition matters
Njiru’s recognition is therefore about more than the number of children receiving meals.
It reflects a growing understanding that social challenges can also be addressed through systems that create economic opportunity.
A school meal puts food on a child’s plate. But when that food is purchased from a local farmer, prepared by a local worker and delivered through a locally built system, it can also generate income, create jobs and strengthen local markets.
That is the model Njiru has spent years building.
The German Africa Prize will be presented to her on November 4 in Berlin by Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali Radovan.
For Njiru, the recognition comes as Food4Education continues to expand. For Kenya and the wider continent, her story offers a different way of looking at school feeding—not simply as a cost to governments or a charitable intervention, but as an investment in children, local economies and Africa’s future.
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