Wawira Njiru, founder of Kenya’s Food for Education, has been named, on May 31, as the recipient of the Icon Award 2022 by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The Kenyan nutritionist is recognized for her work as founder and director of Food for Education, a non-profit organisation that provides nutritious meals to children in schools across Kenya and has delivered over 7 million meals to date. Wawira Njiru will officially receive the Icon Award 2022 at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in London this July.
Since 2002, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants has reflected the diversity of the world’s culinary landscape. The annual list of the world’s most prestigious restaurants provides a snapshot of some of the best destinations for unique culinary experiences, in addition to being a barometer for and a pioneer of global gastronomic trends. The 50 Best family also includes Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants, The World’s 50 Best Bars, Asia’s 50 Best Bars, North America’s 50 Best Bars and the #50BestTalks and 50 Best Explores series, all of which are owned and run by William Reed. 50 Best aims to bring together communities across the hospitality sector to foster collaboration, inclusivity, diversity and discovery and help drive positive change.
The Icon Award celebrates an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the food world worthy of international recognition and who has used their platform to raise awareness and drive positive change.
With an estimated 80% of children in Kenya not receiving a school meal, Njiru believes no child should have to learn on an empty stomach. After majoring in food science at university in Australia, she founded Food for Education in 2016, at first making 25 meals a day. The organization now employs 200 staff and feeds 40,000 children daily and providing nutritious meals across 41 schools in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kiambu Counties, helping to boost attendance at primary level and combat hunger. It has delivered over seven million meals to date, leading to improved nutrition, academic performance and higher high school transition rates.
Stimulate the local economy
By sourcing fresh food directly from farmers, Food for Education has also been able to help stimulate the local economy. Meals are prepared in a central kitchen to internationally recognized food safety standards, while the subsidized meals are delivered to students using cutting-edge technology to design a sustainable means of delivering high quality, wholesome food. During the pandemic, the organization also provided food packages and cash transfers that delivered over 2,000,000 meals to children and their families at home due to COVID-19.
Food for Education utilises Tap2Eat, a digital mobile platform whereby parents can pay for the subsidised lunches with mobile money. The amount is then credited to a virtual wallet linked to an NFC smart wristband, which students can wear and use accordingly, meaning no cash transfers and no lost money. Njiru hopes to expand the programme across more of Kenya and potentially beyond and provide meals to 1 million children over the next five years.
Aiming to feed 100,000 by year-end
Food for Education is aiming to feed 100,000 by year-end, and is looking to expand in other African countries. Njiru is also working closely with the Kenyan government to push for a national school lunch subsidy to give all pupils access to nutritious meals.
William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, says: “The Icon Award recognises true trailblazers in the food sphere and we’re honoured that this year we can present it to Wawira Njiru for her exceptional work. The achievements of Food for Education in just six short years have been astonishing and we know that Wawira and her organisation will go on to do incredible things in the future, across Kenya and beyond.”
Wawira Njiru comments on the award: “I am honoured and excited to be this year’s recipient of the Icon Award for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Hungry children cannot learn or grow and across the world, school meals are critical to children’s growth and education. This has been especially exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic with school meals essential to recovery and rebuilding. I would like to acknowledge the entire Food for Education team that I work with and with whom I share this award, as they work tirelessly every day to provide these lunch meals. Every day we are working to ensure that more and more school-going children have access to nutritious meals and I am grateful for this award that recognises the critical work we are doing to end classroom hunger.”
Wawira Njiru was awarded the title of UN Person of the Year 2021 in Kenya and was also the very first recipient of the Global Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award in 2018.
