The Government of Japan has contributed US$1.2 million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to strengthen health and education in Somalia by providing daily nutritious school meals to more than 14,000 children and 178 school support staff in the Southwest and Jubaland states through February 2027.
The funding will enable WFP to implement its home-grown school meals program using value vouchers, allowing schools to purchase cereals, fresh produce, animal protein, and other nutritious foods from local retailers and farmer cooperatives. The approach is expected to improve children’s nutrition while supporting local farmers, businesses, and rural livelihoods.
According to WFP, school meals play a critical role in keeping children in classrooms during times of crisis. In 2025, retention rates at WFP-supported schools reached 98%, with many students relying on school meals as their most dependable source of daily nutrition amid worsening food insecurity.
Somalia continues to face a severe humanitarian crisis, with an estimated six million people experiencing crisis-level hunger or worse and nearly two million facing emergency levels of food insecurity. Prolonged drought, insecurity, reduced humanitarian funding, and the wider economic effects of conflict in the Middle East have intensified the country’s food crisis.
Funding shortages have also affected education support programs, reducing WFP’s school meals coverage from nearly 200,000 students in 2023 to just over 120,000 today. More than 4.5 million children in Somalia remain out of school, underscoring the need for continued investment in education and nutrition initiatives.
Japan has remained a key humanitarian partner for Somalia, contributing approximately US$37 million to WFP since 2021. The funding has supported emergency food assistance, nutrition programs, school feeding initiatives, and livelihood projects aimed at improving food security and resilience across the country.
