Wawira Njiru named recipient of the German Africa Prize

Nairobi, Kenya – Wawira Njiru, a Kenyan social innovator and nutritionist, has been awarded the German Africa Prize 2026 for her innovative approach to school feeding as economic infrastructure. The German Africa Foundation presented the prize to Njiru, founder of Food4Education (F4E), acknowledging her work in combining school feeding with local food production, job creation, and economic development.

Through F4E, Njiru collaborates with families, schools, smallholder farmers, and governments to establish scalable national systems. This approach addresses the urgent need for food security amid conflicts, climate volatility, and fragile supply chains. The jury recognized Njiru's system that goes beyond providing meals, connecting food security with economic participation and strengthening local value chains.

Started with 25 schoolchildren, F4E now reaches over 660,000 children at more than 1,900 schools across Kenya, serving over 200 million meals. Unlike traditional aid models, F4E designs school feeding as a locally rooted system sustained by shared investment from family contributions, government funding, and philanthropy. Their digital platform, Tap2Eat, enables families to contribute toward meals, and a solar- and steam-powered Giga Kitchen in Nairobi manages procurement, production, and distribution efficiently.

Njiru emphasizes that school feeding should be viewed as economic infrastructure, not charity. The prize highlights how African governments are now seeking job creation, farmer connections to markets, and reinvestment of their budgets in local communities. About 80% of F4E's meals come from local smallholder farmers, providing a reliable buyer for their produce and employing over 6,000 people, mostly women and young people.

F4E aims to reach one million children by 2027, sharing its lessons, technology, and expertise globally.