King Letsie III of Lesotho and African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina have made a powerful call for immediate action to address hunger in African classrooms, stressing the need for urgent investment in school feeding programs. Their remarks came during a visit to Kenya’s Food4Education program on March 18, 2025.
The royal visit took place at Ruiru Primary School, located just outside Nairobi, where they witnessed the impressive growth of Food4Education, a school feeding initiative that started in 2012. Originally feeding only 25 children, the program now provides nutritious meals to over 500,000 children daily across 10 counties in Kenya, having delivered more than 100 million meals to date.
King Letsie III expressed concern over the long-term consequences of hunger on children’s education, saying, “A child who goes to school on an empty stomach is not just hungry for food, but also hungry for opportunity.” He emphasized the importance of nutrition in educational success and urged governments and businesses to take action to combat this pressing issue.
Dr. Adesina echoed the sentiment, stressing that malnutrition and stunting should not be viewed merely as social problems, but as leadership and accountability challenges. “How do we justify a situation where we have 65% of the world’s uncultivated land here in Africa, yet children go to bed hungry?” he questioned, calling on African leaders to step up and invest more in the fight against hunger and for better education.
Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, shared how the program has transformed schools, particularly noting that Ruiru Primary School’s enrollment has surged from 600 to 1,500 students. The feeding initiative has led to a marked increase in school attendance, with children eagerly anticipating lunchtime. Similar growth in student numbers has been observed across Kenya’s Kiambu County and Nairobi.
During their visit, King Letsie III and Dr. Adesina also toured Food4Education’s warehouse and laboratory, where food is tested for quality before distribution. They concluded their visit at the Giga Kitchen, Africa’s largest green kitchen, which prepares 60,000 meals daily using eco-friendly technologies such as recyclable briquettes and clean steam cooking.
Njiru discussed the scalability of Food4Education, explaining that the program is designed to be cost-effective and replicable. With plans to expand its reach to 1 million children by 2027 and eventually serve 2 million children across multiple African nations by 2030, the program is a model for innovation in addressing hunger and improving education.
King Letsie III and Dr. Adesina reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Africa’s school feeding programs as a crucial part of the continent’s development. King Letsie III stated that such initiatives are vital investments in human capital and economic resilience, urging for greater collaboration to end classroom hunger.
Dr. Adesina further emphasized that investing in nutrition should be seen not as an expense, but as an essential investment in the future workforce of Africa, which will drive the continent’s long-term economic growth.
