Treasury’s Sh600 million budget cut threatens school feeding expansion
The programme, which supports students in 26 marginalised counties, is now set to receive Sh3 billion, down from Sh3.6 billion allocated in the current fiscal year ending next month.
Millions of learners across Kenya face the risk of missing out on daily meals after the Treasury proposed to cut the school feeding programme budget by Sh600 million in the upcoming financial year.
The programme, which supports students in 26 marginalised counties, is now set to receive Sh3 billion, down from Sh3.6 billion allocated in the current fiscal year ending next month.
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The decision comes despite repeated promises by the Kenya Kwanza administration to scale up the programme.
At the start of its term, the government pledged to double the budget and raise the number of beneficiaries.
In the financial year ending June 2023, the total expenditure for the programme stood at Sh4.1 billion. The current reduction signals a sharp departure from the earlier commitment.
The school feeding programme was created to provide mid-day meals to pupils in public primary schools, targeting arid, semi-arid regions and urban informal settlements.
One of its flagship projects is Nairobi’s ‘Dishi na County’, implemented by the county government with support from the Ministry of Education.
President William Ruto has publicly backed the programme. In March 2025, during the official launch of the ‘Dishi na County’ Central Kitchen at Zawadi Comprehensive School in Kamukunji, Nairobi, he underlined the role of school meals in keeping children in school and improving academic results.
“We will keep expanding school feeding programs across Kenya, especially in informal settlements and marginalised areas, to boost enrollment and enhance the performance of learners,” Ruto said.
Since it began, ‘Dishi na County’ has served over 30 million meals and currently benefits more than 310,000 learners. It has been widely praised for increasing student retention and fighting hunger in schools.
The president’s commitment also echoed the goals of the National School Meals Coalition, which aims to expand the reach of the programme to more than 10 million learners by 2030.
But with the latest proposed budget cut, the government now appears to be pulling back from that ambition, raising fears among parents, education stakeholders, and aid partners that thousands of vulnerable children could be pushed out of school or forced to learn on an empty stomach.
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