Kitchen farms feeding Kenya's learners amid capitation cut

As the cost of living continues to rise and education budgets face steep cuts, school kitchen gardens are providing a critical lifeline.

An initiative led by the State Department for Agriculture and supported by several government and development partners aims to create two million kitchen gardens across one million homes and schools.

It integrates indigenous knowledge with modern farming, teaching children not only how to grow food but how to grow a future.

Through the “Mama Kitchen Garden” initiative, schools are now resorting to growing vegetables, maize, and cultivating fruit trees to keep learners in school and bridge the funding gap.

In Migori County, John Matiko, the head teacher of Isebania Comprehensive School, says the program has helped keep learners in school.

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“The school enrolment has increased, and performance has improved. This program has made food available, especially for children who depended entirely on school meals,” said Matiko.

He said students have embraced farming through corn gardens and cone-shaped vertical plots using recycled materials.

Juliet Atieno, an agriculture teacher at the school, is proud of how hands-on learning has boosted student performance.

“Previously, students learnt agriculture in theory. Now, they do it practically. It’s easier to remember, and they’re excited,” she said.

At Bondo Kosiemo Primary School in Nyatike West, Migori County, the “Feed One, End Hunger” milk program — a sister initiative under the Mama Kitchen Garden banner — has significantly improved student attendance.

“Many children were unable to attend school due to a lack of food at home and in school. Since this program started, we’ve experienced a high number of school attendance and retention rates,” said head teacher Steve Jalang’o.

Every week, 424 students receive two packets of milk, provided in partnership with dairy industry players, to improve the concentration of learners.

Elia Lula Paul, the 4K Club president, said the knowledge he's gained is already helping his family back home.

“With this farming knowledge, I can now help my parents grow healthy food. I urge my fellow students to join — we are learning skills that will stay with us forever,” he said.

This pilot project will distribute two packets of milk per week to children in 11 schools across five counties for a whole year.

It aims to ensure that more than 10 million school-going children are included in the programme by 2030.

The program comes at a time when the education sector faces financial strain. 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.

Speaking during a presentation of the 2025/2026 Budget Estimates to the Education Committee of the National Assembly on Tuesday, Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok expressed fear that the budget cuts, including the withdrawal of funds for school feeding programs in ASAL areas, threaten to push vulnerable children out of school.

“We need to keep expanding school feeding programs across Kenya, especially in informal settlements and marginalised areas, to boost enrolment and enhance the performance of learners,” he said.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Secretary General Akelo Misori warned that without school meals, education remains out of reach for many, particularly in ASAL and informal settlements.

“When the feeding programme is not given attention, it deprives learners from vulnerable families of a chance to access education. This makes equality in education a mirage to some children,” Misori said.

The First Lady Rachel Ruto, the program patron, said the initiative is transforming the education and nutrition landscape across the country.

“We are on a mission to give mothers the power to increase household vegetable intake by empowering Kenyan women to establish a thriving kitchen garden for their families. You cannot teach a hungry child,” said the First Lady during the program’s national rollout in Baringo County.

She pointed out that the initiative is not just about food production, but about dignity, pride, and shared national responsibility.

“This initiative promises hope, action, and transformation. It seeks to see every child in Kenya well fed and every mother equipped to ensure her family’s health,” she said.

Environment and Forestry CS Baraza Mulongo lauded the initiative as a “deeply impactful, multifaceted concept” that advances food security, education, and climate action.

“This is not only timely but also a deeply impactful, multifaceted concept, which will uplift our ministry’s work and advance the country’s environmental agenda,” said Baraza.

Baraza added that the program was aligned to ending poverty and zero hunger, as well as a national aspiration and international commitment, adding that the gardens will contribute over 500 million trees to Kenya’s 15 billion trees campaign by 2032.

Kipronoh Ronoh, Principal Secretary for Agriculture, described kitchen gardens as “living classrooms” that teach sustainability, climate resilience, and healthy living.

“The program under agriculture on food and nutrition security is central to achieving food and nutrition security. We will work hard to ensure it sets a global example,” he said.

The PS pledged that the ministry will provide training, farm inputs, and market access to make the initiative sustainable.

 “We will provide basic infrastructures, farm inputs to farmers and financing models, as well as water infrastructures, aggregation centres and markets for the program” said Ronoh.