Wawira Njiru founded Food4Education, a nonprofit that has served over 100 million meals to students in Kenya since its inception. Started in 2012 by feeding just 25 students daily, Food4Education has grown to become Africa’s largest locally led school feeding program.
The idea took hold when Njiru was a 20-year-old international student in Australia and recognized that small amounts of money readily available there could profoundly impact her home country of Kenya.
So she decided to have a local fundraiser. Njiru revealed her initial idea was to cook for 80 people, but the meal was a failure.
“I cooked all the food … and it was not good food. No, it was burnt rice. … cooking for 80 people is a lot,” she recounted during the recent episode of the “CNBC Changemakers and Power Players” podcast.
However, the idea proved successful. “People gave me $20 each. Raised $1,250 and started feeding 25 kids in my community. And that was the start of Food4Education,” explained Njiru.
Now, every school day, more than 600,000 Kenyan children use a bright wristband, which they tap to receive a hot lunch. Today, what looks like a simple cashless payment represents much more.
“When you give someone food, the first thing, and the first motivation that I have, is to give them dignity,” nutritionist and social entrepreneur Njiru said.
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Food4Education is designed with an emphasis on “operationalizing dignity,” as described by Njiru. This means that every part of their operation, from food preparation to payment methods, is structured to ensure that recipients never feel like they are receiving charity.
“Our kids, our parents, we treat them like our customers,” she said. “They’re not beneficiaries, because they do contribute a subsidized amount, and they do have ownership.”
Njiru recognized that while parents couldn’t cover the full cost of meals, they could still contribute what they could afford through popular Kenyan mobile money platforms.
This system involves parents topping up small digital wallets for their children, which are linked to wristbands that students scan at lunchtime. This mechanism, which combines parental contributions with government aid and philanthropic support, fosters a crucial sense of community participation.
Njiru emphasized that this approach allows families to feel like active participants in the solution, rather than just being passive aid recipients.
“The anchor of this financing system is a child. Everyone is participating to make sure that the child is able to eat, and by bringing in smart ways where the government can contribute, parents can contribute, and philanthropy can cover the gaps, we’re really able to shift how school feeding happens,” Njiru said.
The nonprofit’s community focus is evident in the local kitchens preparing the meals, which Njiru describes as part of “an ecosystem of economic benefit.” This system includes individuals like Mary, a supplier who began working with the organization in 2012 by delivering meals on a motorbike and has since grown her operation to a network of 65 trucks.
Njiru remarked, “Empowering people like Mary is the bedrock of what Food4Education is about.”
The organization’s staff, mostly parents of the children they serve, feel a strong sense of pride and local ownership. Njiru explained that because staff members are serving their own communities—cooking and distributing meals—they are regarded as heroes. This local connection is seen as “really, really critical,” as community members recognize them as the people who reliably provide food daily.
Food4Education’s simple payment technology provides valuable data, enabling the team to manage their kitchens with greater efficiency.
“In all our kitchens, we have close to zero waste because of how we use technology,” Njiru said, explaining that it can accurately gauge how many meals it will need daily.
“By tapping [the wristband] we’re able to know that a kid is in school today. And by looking at what the trends are, we’re able to know are they likely to come to school tomorrow. So predictive analytics really helps us make sure that we’re not cooking too much, we’re not cooking too little, we’re cooking precisely what we’re supposed to be cooking. And that is a huge thing,” she said.
The global economy suffers a significant blow from hunger, costing $3 trillion annually. In Africa, this issue is particularly acute, leading to an estimated loss of 16.5% of potential GDP, according to Njiru.
The impact of Food4Education’s work is clearly evident in school attendance figures. Njiru reports that when the organization partners with a school, enrollment increases by around 30%.
This intervention leads to more consistent school attendance, which in turn results in improved academic performance. Furthermore, the children’s overall health improves, leading to a reduction in illness.
She emphasized that a school feeding program dignifies the entire community, not just by unlocking a child’s potential, but also by providing jobs and opportunities. This includes farmers who supply the food and the people employed in the kitchens.
Njiru acknowledges the immense scale of the undertaking, calling the effort to feed an estimated 400 million school-age children in Africa “a massive, massive challenge.”
However, she finds daily motivation and focus by visiting Food4Education’s 1,500 schools. “Whenever I go into our schools… it makes me feel that I could do this every day. I could do this for no pay. I would do this any day for the rest of my life,” she shared. This unwavering commitment, she explained, is what keeps her “grounded, keeps me focused, and keeps me thinking, this is possible.”
Njiru’s vision earned a spot on the 2025 CNBC Changemakers list.
