25,000 learners in Kakamega to benefit from school feeding programme
Education
By
Benard Lusigi and Mary Imenza
| Sep 18, 2025
French Ambassador to Kenya Arnaud Suquet and Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula serve lunch to Mahiakalo Primary School pupils during the launch of Food for Education programme, on September 18, 2025. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]
The Kakamega County Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the French Government to support a feeding programme targeting learners in Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres and primary schools.
The initiative aims to benefit 25,000 leaders by September 2026.
In the first phase, the programme will cover at least 2,500 learners selected from 120,000 schools before increasing the number of schools to five per ward in the entire 60 wards across the county by September 2025 and 10 schools per ward by September 2026.
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During the signing of the agreement at Kakamega County Headquarters, Deputy Governor Ayub Savula, said that the partnership will help keep students in school, enhance the nutrition and improve education standards.
"We thank our governor for this noble initiative with the French government, and the project will benefit 25,000 pupils, and this is to ensure our learners stay in school to get quality education," said Savula.
"The initiative will ensure our learners are healthy, especially from poor families, and we are urging the French government to help in ensuring we support the future generation. Each parent will only be required to pay Sh15 per meal, and the remaining cost will be taken care of by our partners," he added.
The county and the French government also signed a pact to conserve the environment, especially the Kakamega Tropical Rain Forest.
Savula said the MoU is a game-changer in mitigating the effects of climate change and improving the livelihoods of communities living around the forest.
"We are also grateful to the Wangari Matjai Foundation for conserving our forest, and we are thankful to the French government for supporting the growth of trees and ensuring it supports the livelihoods of the community living around the Kakamega forest," he said.
French Ambassador to Kenya Arnaud Suquet, Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula and other investors after signing the MoU of Food for Education programme, on September 18, 2025. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]
"We have successfully fenced 32 kilometres of the forest with the support of sponsors. We are currently targeting to complete construction of the 82-kilometre perimeter wall, besides constructing an organic fertiliser plant for turning waste into clean energy for a clean environment," he added.
The French ambassador to Kenya, Arnaud Suquet, revealed that Kakamega is the fourth county to benefit from the project in partnership with Food for Education after Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, with the sole aim of keeping learners in schools to ensure quality education.
"We aim to see that our learners from vulnerable backgrounds are well taken care of in terms of food under the feeding programme. We are supporting our children with quality education for good health to stay in school and improve their performances," said Suquet.
The Ambassador said the country and world must invest in the future by supporting learners with a feeding programme.
"Kakamega is the fourth county to support, and we will ensure we have enough resources for the program, and after assessing its impact, we will extend it."
Mr Suquet said they are keen on empowering the community by conserving the forest.
"We want to invest in the future of Kakamega county and Kenya by conserving the environment, besides empowering the community living across the forest for economic livelihood to protect the forest," he said.