Mombasa pupils to get low-cost meals

Pupils in Mombasa public schools are the latest beneficiaries of warm meals by a social enterprise targeting children from low-income households.

Food for Education has expanded its footprint to the county inching closer to its target of serving 30,000 lunches daily by end year.

The social enterprise that originally launched in Ruiru before expanding to Dagoretti seeks to complement government’s school feeding programme in rural and semi-arid areas.

"Mombasa County is prime for this infrastructure, with most schools seeking options of a sustainable school feeding program,” said Food for Education founder Wawira Njiru on the decision to launch in Mombasa.

Under the Food for Education’s model, meals are prepared at a select school then distributed to surrounding institutions using smart logistics.

Its innovative technology dubbed Tap2Eat comes in form of wristbands with microchips worn by pupils that are loaded with lunch-money.

Ms Wawira said Mombasa was picked due to its dense population with majority of the schools having limited space for kitchens, compelling children to seek alternative means to access meals as others go hungry while in school.

The social enterprise says it sources its food ingredients from local small-holder growers, improving farmer incomes and the viability of local food value chains.

"Our home-grown strategy fosters increased production and diversification by smallholders, which stimulates the strengthening of local and national food systems and the promotion of better quality diets," said Ms Wawira.

Food for Education targets to serve a million school meals daily by 2025 with plans of setting up kitchens in the major counties across the country.