The Africa Day of School Feeding, observed annually on March 1st, is a significant initiative aimed at highlighting the vital role of school meals in improving education, nutrition, and social development across the continent. Established by the African Union (AU) in 2016, this day underscores the importance of homegrown school feeding programs in fostering food security, boosting local economies, and enhancing learning outcomes for millions of children.
By investing in sustainable school meal programs, African nations are not only ensuring that children have access to nutritious food but are also strengthening agricultural systems and empowering local communities. The day serves as a platform to advocate for increased collaboration among governments, stakeholders, and international partners to scale up and sustain these impactful initiatives.
Food All Africa
Founded by Chef Elijah Amoo Addo, their goal, which remains unchanged to this day, is to provide free or affordable daily, and nutritious meals to school children throughout the academic year, with a particular focus on those in poor and underserved primary schools.
“I founded Food For All Africa to address the widespread hunger and food waste challenges in Ghana, Food for All Africa leverages mobile technology to connect a world of excess to a world of need by recovering quality, edible, surplus food from the consumer goods supply chain and redistributing it to community organizations that serve the poor. Eighty-percent [80%] of the food recovered is nutritious.”
Chef Elijah Amoo Addo
Muntada Aid
“A caring and dignified world where everyone is free from poverty and has access to education and healthcare.”
Muntada Aid is running a school meals programme in Uganda, Niger and Mali, providing 650 children free school meals at partner schools and community centres.
On a mission to develop healthy and sustainable communities worldwide, Muntada Aid implements innovative social, economic, education, and health and wellbeing programmes to not only feed, but to empower.
African Promise
“Better primary schools for Kenya”
The African Promise school feeding programme provides a free daily lunch to around 2,500 children across seven partner primary schools and beyond, removing hunger as a barrier to learning.
An active feeding programme like this encourages pupils to attend school in the first place and then keeps them there throughout the day. It is a basic but nutritious meal of maize/rice and beans, prepared on-site by cooks in kitchens we have built, and sourced from a local wholesaler.
World Vision in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
This programme, supported by the World Food Programme and local partner APETAMAC, aims to combat hunger and malnutrition in 10 primary schools in the town Kalemie, in Tanganyika province, ultimately improving the children’s nutritional status and academic performance.
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Over 3,000 children will benefit from this programme across 10 schools
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The programme offers a nutritional supplement consisting of proteins (smoked fish), salt and oil.
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Distributed twice a week, each meal adds 900-1,100 extra kilocalories – helping children stay healthy and focused
Food 4 Education
“Feeding the Future”
Founded by Wawira Njiru, Food for Education is a women-led organization dedicated to combating classroom hunger by implementing sustainable and locally-driven school feeding programs across Africa. Their mission is to design, operate, and replicate effective school feeding models that address nutritional deficits and remove barriers to learning.
By sourcing approximately 80% of their ingredients from local suppliers, they ensure that meals are both nutritious and environmentally friendly, while also strengthening local economies.
As of 2024, Food for Education serves 450,000 meals daily across 1,263 schools in Kenya, with an ambitious goal to triple their impact by feeding one million children daily by 2027.
Their innovative approach includes the use of technology, such as the Tap2Eat program, which streamlines meal distribution and payment processes.
Mary’s Meals
“A simple solution to World Hunger”
Mary’s Meals is a charitable organization dedicated to providing daily nutritious meals to children in some of the world’s poorest communities.
As of 2025, Mary’s Meals serves over 2.4 million children each school day across 17 countries, including Malawi, Haiti, and Zambia. Their community-driven approach involves local volunteers in meal preparation and program management, ensuring sustainability and local ownership.
The organization maintains a low-cost model, with a donation of £19.15 feeding a child for an entire school year. This efficient use of resources maximizes the impact of contributions, enabling Mary’s Meals to reach more children in need.
In May 2024, Mary’s Meals expanded its school feeding program into Mozambique, aiming to combat severe hunger exacerbated by El Niño-induced droughts and flooding in Southern Africa.
Partnering with the local NGO Mozambique School Lunch Initiative (MSLI), the organization began providing daily nutritious meals to over 5,000 children across more than 30 schools in the Mabalane District of Gaza Province.
Mozambique, identified as one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, has faced multiple tropical cyclones since 2007, intensifying food insecurity challenges. Mary’s Meals’ intervention offers a vital lifeline to children and communities grappling with the impacts of climate change.
