• Transforming School Meals through Local Food Systems: The STEP–School Feeding initiative, funded by IDRC and implemented by Tanager, AATF, Tegemeo Institute, and the Government of Kenya, aims to deliver nutritious, locally sourced meals to schoolchildren in Embu, Isiolo, Makueni, and Nairobi counties.

• Empowering Women, Youth, and Smallholder Farmers: The project prioritizes gender and social inclusion across the food value chain—supporting women, youth, and smallholder farmers through equitable procurement linked to Kenya’s Home-Grown School Feeding Programmes.

• Driving Evidence-Based, Inclusive Policy: STEP will generate data and insights to inform national policies that scale up school feeding programs in a sustainable, climate-smart, and inclusive manner.

On April 30, participants from across the donor community, research, government, private sector, civil society, and development partners gathered to launch SusTainable, Inclusive and Equitable Procurement in Home Grown School Feeding Programmes in Kenya (STEP– School Feeding) — a bold new initiative set to transform school feeding in Kenya.  

This new action-research initiative, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and implemented by Tanager, African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development, and the Government of Kenya marks a major step in ensuring school-going children across four counties—Embu, Isiolo, Makueni, and Nairobi—have access to nutritious, healthy, and sustainable diets through the local food ecosystems. 

Maureen Munjua, Tanager’s Kenya Country Representative, emphasized how the project will prioritize gender responsiveness across all components of local food systems (production, processing, distribution, and consumption), which will be linked to the existing Home-Grown School Feeding Programmes.  

“We can build local economies while empowering women and youth to achieve food and nutritional security for our school going children,” said Munjua. 

Dr. Canisius Kanangire, Executive Director of AATF, underscored the organization’s commitment to placing smallholder farmers at the heart of Kenya’s homegrown school feeding programs. He highlighted AATF’s plan to promote the use of locally available, diverse, and nutritious ingredients—produced through sustainable agroecological practices—to ensure school meals are both healthy and supportive of local food systems. 

As part of the STEP School-Feeding consortium, Tanager will spearhead activities that advance gender and social inclusion across the value chain – from production and processing to distribution and consumption – ensuring existing home-grown school feeding programs benefit all members of the community.  This data-driven approach will inform policies that not only scale school feeding but also ensure it is inclusive and equitable. 

As Kenya continues to champion home-grown, climate-smart agriculture practices, this initiative will power the development of school feeding models that deliver safe, diverse, and nutritious food -sourced locally from smallholder farmers – straight to children’s plates. 

Read more about the project: https://www.aatf-africa.org/press-release-aatf-and-partners-launch-research-initiative-to-boost-home-grown-school-feeding-in-kenya/