Kenyan social innovator and nutritionist Wawira Njiru has been named the recipient of the 2026 German Africa Prize in recognition of her pioneering work to transform school feeding from a welfare intervention into a driver of economic development.
Njiru, the founder and CEO of Food4Education (F4E), will receive the prestigious award from the German Africa Foundation in Berlin on November 4. The award will be presented by Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali Radovan, at the Allianz Forum.
The recognition comes as Food4Education continues to expand its school feeding model across Kenya, where it now provides meals to more than 660,000 children in over 1,900 schools and 17 counties. The organisation says it has served more than 200 million meals since its establishment in 2012.
The German Africa Prize jury made the announcement on Wednesday saying it was recognising Njiru’s approach to linking school feeding with food security, local agriculture, employment and economic participation.
“Wawira Njiru demonstrates that school feeding can be much more than simply providing meals,” said Claus Stäcker, President of the German Africa Prize jury and Director of Africa Programmes at Deutsche Welle.
“With Food4Education, she has created a system that reaches children, involves families and strengthens local economic cycles. Her idea and her commitment have led to an African solution to a global challenge.”
What started as an initiative serving just 25 schoolchildren has grown into one of Kenya’s largest school feeding programmes.
Through its model, F4E brings together families, schools, farmers, government and philanthropic partners to finance and deliver school meals at scale. The organisation’s digital platform, Tap2Eat, enables families to contribute towards meals using NFC-enabled wristbands and cards while supporting the planning of procurement, food production and distribution.
F4E says its model delivers a nutritious meal for approximately 30 US cents, while keeping food waste below two per cent. Its Nairobi-based Giga Kitchen, powered by solar and steam technology, is part of the infrastructure supporting the organisation’s growing operations.
Njiru said the award reflects a broader shift in how school feeding is viewed in Africa.
“For too long, school feeding was treated as charity. We have proven it is economic infrastructure,” she said.
“What we have built in Kenya shows what is possible when African solutions are designed around our own realities and built to work at scale.”
According to Njiru, governments are increasingly looking beyond the number of children being fed to the wider economic impact of school feeding programmes.
“They are asking how many jobs we can create, how many farmers we can connect to markets, and how much of their own budget is reinvested in local communities,” she said.
The economic impact of the model extends beyond schools and children.
About 80 per cent of the food served by Food4Education is sourced from local smallholder farmers, providing them with a predictable market for their produce.
The organisation has also grown into a significant employer, with more than 6,000 people working across its operations. The majority are women and young people, including many in their first formal employment.
The workforce includes kitchen managers, food-safety specialists, logistics and supply-chain professionals and software engineers.
F4E’s approach is also increasingly being shared beyond Kenya. The organisation is working with African governments to transfer lessons, technology and operational expertise while allowing individual countries to adapt the model to their own systems.
In Zambia, for instance, F4E is supporting the government to strengthen a nationally led school feeding system.
The award comes as Food4Education prepares to expand its reach further in Kenya, with the organisation targeting one million children receiving daily meals by 2027
Njiru’s recognition places Kenya’s school feeding experience at the centre of an increasingly important global conversation around food security, local economic development and the role of government in building resilient food systems.
The German Africa Foundation has awarded the German Africa Prize since 1993 to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to areas including democracy, peace, sustainable development, environmental protection, research and innovation, cultural exchange and human rights.
Njiru will formally receive the 2026 award at a ceremony in Berlin on November 4, where her work in building an African-led school feeding model will be recognised alongside the wider contribution of African innovators to addressing global challenges.
