NAIROBI, Kenya – Millions of schoolchildren across Kenya face the risk of losing access to daily meals after the National Treasury proposed a significant cut to the school feeding programme in the upcoming financial year.
The budget for the programme—which provides mid-day meals to children in public primary schools, particularly in arid, semi-arid regions and urban informal settlements—is set to drop by Sh600 million.
The proposed allocation stands at Sh3 billion, down from Sh3.6 billion in the current fiscal year ending June.
This move comes despite earlier pledges by the Kenya Kwanza administration to expand school feeding initiatives.
At the start of its term, the government had vowed to double the programme’s budget and scale up coverage to reach more children in need.
In the financial year ending June 2023, the government spent Sh4.1 billion on the programme, highlighting how far the current proposal falls short of past commitments.
President William Ruto has been a vocal supporter of school meals.
During the March 2025 launch of Nairobi’s Dishi na County Central Kitchen at Zawadi Comprehensive School in Kamukunji, the president reiterated the government’s commitment to growing the programme.
“We will keep expanding school feeding programs across Kenya, especially in informal settlements and marginalised areas, to boost enrollment and enhance the performance of learners,” Ruto said at the time.
Nairobi’s Dishi na County is one of the programme’s flagship initiatives.
Run by the Nairobi County Government in partnership with the Ministry of Education, the project has served over 30 million meals and currently reaches more than 310,000 learners.
It has been widely credited with improving school attendance, retention, and academic performance.
The government has also backed the National School Meals Coalition, which aims to extend the reach of school feeding to more than 10 million learners by 2030.
However, the proposed funding cut casts doubt on that ambition and has triggered alarm among parents, educators, and aid partners.
Critics warn that the rollback could see thousands of vulnerable children either dropping out of school or struggling to learn on empty stomachs.
The cut also comes at a time when food insecurity remains acute in many parts of the country due to prolonged droughts, economic shocks, and high inflation.
Education stakeholders have urged the Treasury to reconsider the move, arguing that school meals are not just about food—but also about access, equity, and opportunity.
