Making school feeding work through MSEs and smallholder farmers
Latest posts
Making school feeding work through MSEs and smallholder farmers
Wasafiri’s leadership transition is rooted where our work is
Share:
In the grand scheme of food systems, micro and small micro enterprises (MSEs) are often overlooked as a contributor to sustainable change and seen more as a benefactor of actions of other stakeholders in the food supply chain.
Policymakers and large institutions focus on industrial-scale suppliers, favoring efficiency over inclusivity. But in Africa’s school feeding programs, MSEs are not just a convenience – they are indispensable.
Every day across the Kenyan landscape, millions of children rely on school meals to get the nutrition they need to learn and grow. The success of these programs is tied to their ability to source food sustainably, affordably, and reliably. That is where MSEs come in.
Embedded in local economies, these businesses provide a variety of food products at the right pricing point and accessible for consumers. These MSEs will increasingly be an essential link between smallholder farmers and schools, ensuring that food is not just available, but that it is also healthy, culturally relevant and nutritionally appropriate.
The formal inclusion of MSEs in School Feeding is therefore essential for a complete school feeding cycle.
MSEs: The lifeline of local food systems
Within the communities in Kibera, Korogocho and Mukuru kwa Reuben, MSEs that we have interacted with are integral, easily dominating the food supply landscape in these urban areas, be they selling food products in formal stalls and eateries, hawking, or roadside selling.
While many sell a variety of processed and cooked food products, they also supply households with fresh produce, grains, and staples, exactly the same commodities required for school meals.
What we are learning is that when school feeding programs integrate these businesses into their supply chains, they create a ripple effect that strengthens local economies.
The benefits are tangible: finance circulates within communities, household incomes improve, and economic stability increases. School feeding then ceases to be a standalone intervention; it becomes an economic driver.
Take Sylvia Kuria, an organic farmer and activist working with Fellows from the African Food Fellowship. Together, they have collaborated with the Mukuru Agribusiness Association to connect smallholder organic farmers to schools in informal settlements.
Through this collaboration, they identified a local school where children were undernourished and organised a reliable supply of organic, healthy produce from nearby farmers. As a result, the school now provides two nutritious meals a day, improving children’s diets while creating a stable market for local producers.
In turn, the steady demand is allowing Sylvia to train local farmers to better supply these schools, including using space-efficient approaches such as vertical farming, sack gardening, and container-based growing.
Sylvia is now looking for partners who share the view that working through MSEs can strengthen local economies, and who can support the scaling of this approach to reach more schools.
But the impact goes beyond economics. Unlike large-scale suppliers, MSEs are highly adaptable. They can respond quickly to changes in food availability caused by climate shocks or logistical challenges, shifting between supply sources and food types as needed.
This flexibility helps schools continue feeding children even when supply chains are under strain. Over time, this local resilience also supports the wider acceptance of healthy, sustainable foods by expanding the range of foods children eat at school and, in turn, what becomes familiar and accepted within their communities.
The procurement paradox: Why MSEs struggle to compete
Despite their importance, MSEs face significant hurdles when trying to participate in school feeding programs. Procurement policies remain a major roadblock to MSE entry.
Large suppliers have the financial muscle to endure long payment cycles: 30, 60, or even 90 days, whereas MSEs, which operate on cash-based transactions, cannot afford to wait. Schools, constrained by rigid procurement regulations, find it easier to work with established distributors rather than smaller, locally embedded suppliers.
Then there’s the issue of scale. MSEs typically supply small quantities daily, whereas school feeding requires bulk deliveries over an entire term. Bridging this gap requires innovative solutions.
The IDRC funded CCHeFS project, has been instrumental in organising MSEs in Kibra, Korogocho and Mukuru into registered Local Business Associations (LBAs), allowing them to pool resources, aggregate supply, and compete more effectively for school feeding contracts. But more needs to be done.
A blueprint for change
If school feeding is to become a true game changer for the adoption of healthy diets in low-income urban settlements, MSEs must be recognised as the economic driver and supported through procurement and financing models that reflect how these businesses actually operate. Governments and the private sector should develop financing mechanisms that ease cash-flow constraints, allowing smaller suppliers to participate without long payment delays.
Investment in local storage and aggregation facilities would also improve supply chain efficiency, making it easier for MSEs to supply schools and increase the availability of healthy foods in these settlements.
Collaboration with smallholder farmers in rural production areas is another critical piece of the puzzle. Intermediaries like the Kenya National Farmers Federation (KENAFF), which is the umbrella organisation for farmers in Kenya, have shown that when MSEs can work directly with farmers, the result is a safer, more reliable supply chain, one that prioritises both quality and nutrition.
Strengthening these linkages would not only assure the safety and quality of school meals but also drive demand for locally grown food, reinforcing the entire agricultural ecosystem.
The road ahead
Through the CCHeFS project, these LBAs have taken major strides to participate in policy influencing through participation in the Food Liaison Advisory Group (FLAG) committee of Nairobi County Government. This platform is critical to their continued advocacy for favourable business terms.
As policymakers debate the future of school feeding, they must recognise a fundamental truth: without MSEs, the system is weaker. These businesses are not just suppliers; they are enablers of food security, economic empowerment, and community resilience. Strengthening their role in school feeding programs is a strategic move that benefits everyone.
The next step is clear. We level the playing field. We remove financial barriers. We create policies that recognise MSEs as essential partners in feeding Africa’s children. Because when small businesses thrive, so do school feeding programs, and so do the millions of children who depend on them.
For more information on Wasafiri’s work with school feeding initiatives, smallholder farmers and MSEs, or the CCHeFS project, please reach out directly to george@wasafirihub.com.
