Food for Education: Improving Education Outcomes by Feeding Schoolchildren in Kenya

Food for Education is a Kenya-based non-governmental organization that provides nutritious school meals founded in 2012 by nutritionist Wawira Njiru to help feed children in her hometown. By 2023, they serve 50,000 students and have a goal of serving 1 million students across the country by 2027. An innovative payment technology and streamlined central kitchens have enabled them to deliver high quality meals efficiently. and they continue to innovate. They have leveraged philanthropic capital towards both capital investments and to subsidize meals; families pay a fraction of the true cost. F4E also has a broader vision for healthy school feeding across the country. At the time of the case, the organization has submitted a proposal to deliver meals to 250,000 children in the city’s early childhood development centers and public primary schools - an exciting prospect for more impact for Kenyan children and a government revenue stream, but also a daunting execution challenge which will stretch the organization’s operational capacity.