The World Food Programme (WFP), together with the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF) and the Grundfos Foundation, has announced the third phase of their flagship school meals partnership, marking the largest private sector commitment to school feeding in WFP’s history. The initiative will expand Home‑Grown School Feeding models in Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, connecting schools with local farmers, clean energy solutions, and climate‑resilient food systems. Over the next five years, it will provide 366,000 children with nutritious meals while creating stable markets for more than 57,500 smallholder farmers.
WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain emphasized that school meals are one of the best investments governments can make, as they keep children learning, strengthen farmer livelihoods, and benefit communities. The Novo Nordisk Foundation is contributing up to USD 77.75 million, while the Grundfos Foundation is adding USD 3.1 million over three years. This record‑high private sector contribution underscores the growing recognition of school meals as both an educational and nutritional investment.
Phase III of the partnership focuses on sourcing food from regenerative agriculture, improving the nutritional quality of meals, and making school kitchens more climate‑friendly. Grundfos Foundation CEO Kim Nøhr Skibsted highlighted the importance of safe and reliable water supply for school feeding programmes, noting its role in enabling local food production and resilience against climate shocks.
The partnership builds on earlier phases in Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya, and now extends to Ethiopia for the first time. It also supports the School Meals Accelerator, a global initiative of the School Meals Coalition, which aims to help governments scale national school feeding systems and improve meals for an additional 100 million children by 2030.
Globally, school meals are increasingly recognized as a critical investment in health, nutrition, and food systems. Since 2020, funding for school meals has nearly doubled, with 466 million children now receiving meals—80 million more than four years ago. Yet many countries still face challenges in securing sustainable financing. The ambition of WFP and its partners is to demonstrate how locally sourced, nutrition‑sensitive school meals can drive systemic change, shifting food systems toward healthier diets, better nutrition, and reduced chronic disease.
