top of page

Transforming Pastoralist Food Systems: Kenya Launches its Community of Policy and Practice

  • 7 days ago
  • 5 min read

Launch Workshop, KALRO Headquarters, Nairobi — 13th May 2026

What does it take to build a food system that works for children, women, and communities in Kenya's most water-scarce landscapes? On 13th May 2026, researchers, government officials, community leaders, farmers, and educators came together at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) headquarters in Nairobi to answer that question and to officially launch Kenya's Community of Policy and Practice (CoPP) for school feeding and regenerative agriculture.
The launch marked a significant milestone in a programme that has grown, through careful research and community partnership, into a network of people committed to healthier diets, women's empowerment, and climate-resilient food systems across Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs).
From Evidence to Action
Research conducted across schools in the ASALs region found that existing School Feeding Programme (SFP) models were falling short in Kenya. Meals were calorie-focused but nutritionally poor; supplies were often delayed or inadequate; and farmers, who had the potential to supply schools with fresh, diverse food, were largely absent from the procurement process.
In April 2025, KALRO convened a policy roundtable, bringing together stakeholders from across government, research, and civil society. To address the SFP gaps, their recommendation was to establish pilot school farms as living learning centres where nutritious food is grown, shared, and taught, and where communities are at the centre.
From that recommendation, four pilot schools were identified — two in Kajiado County (Kumpa primary school and Inaarok Lukuny Comprehensive) and two in Isiolo County (Kilimani Primary School and the School of the Deaf). Kenya's CoPP is helping to run the pilot school farms.
A Devolved Model Built for Local Contexts
One defining feature of the Kenya CoPP is its devolved structure. Operating through localised CoPPs in both Kajiado and Isiolo counties, the network is designed to be locally rooted and responsive, with a central coordination unit led by KALRO, Egerton University, and the Ministries of Agriculture and Education.
At the launch workshop, Dr. Simon Omondi outlined the phased approach that has guided the project: from an exploratory study of the SFP and its bottlenecks, through a policy roundtable, into piloting school farms as learning centres, and now into scaling those practices in schools and communities through the CoPP. The guiding principles of the project include a shared vision, knowledge co-creation, practice and learning.
Reflecting on the CoPP's wider significance, Dr. Samrat Singh from Imperial College London described the model's potential to drive lasting change:
"CoPPs have become a catalyst in food system transformation across Africa, since they create change agents who have a common vision."
Policymakers sat around a table having a discussion inside a meeting room.
Dr. Singh outlined five key mandates of the CoPP: capacity building and learning; surfacing and communicating knowledge; policy engagement; research; and innovation and technology. Together, these mandates position the CoPP not simply as a network for sharing information, but as a platform for generating evidence, translating it into practice, and influencing the systems that shape school food systems.
What the Pilot Schools Have Achieved
The CoPP launch provided an important moment to take stock of what the pilot phase has already delivered. Across the four learning centres, all schools have successfully introduced high-iron nyota beans and vegetables into their school meals — a direct improvement on children's dietary diversity. Several schools have gone further, adding fruits, eggs, and other livestock products. Water infrastructure critical to the operation of school farms has been upgraded in some schools, and there is measurable evidence of improved learner concentration, higher enrolment, and growing community participation.
Community members have even started to replicate school farms beyond the school gates. Women's groups connected to the learning centres are growing climate-smart foods, establishing kitchen gardens, and, in some cases, generating surplus for sale. These actions have transformed school feeding into a driver of household nutrition and economic independence.
Voices from the Community
The plenary session brought some of the most powerful testimony of the day, from those who have experienced the transformation first-hand.
Mr. Mukiri, Chairman of the School Board at Inaarok Lukuny Primary School, described a change that goes well beyond nutrition:
"Initially, when we did not have food in school, we had to engage the local administrator to instruct parents to bring children to school. However, since the CoPP initiatives, we have recorded an increase in the school population — especially this year, from 240 to over 525 children." 
Community member sat outside having a discussion.
A school Head Teacher added:
"Children come to school in search of food and we educate them. That's the impact of food in the school." — Head Teacher, Inaarok Lukuny Primary School
Community leaders also spoke to the transformative effect on women's income and decision-making. In a pastoral context where women's independent livelihoods have historically been constrained, the project has opened a new door:
"Our women had no voice, but through the groups, they have been given Nyota seed which they are currently producing in surplus for commercial purposes — and now have an income." — Community leader
Mr. Ephantus from Lewa Conservancy drew on previous experience to articulate a lesson that gets to the heart of the programme's intention:
"In our previous initiatives, we realised that the more you continue to give food to schools the more they wait and become dependent. However, if you develop a farm for the school, food provision becomes sustainable." 
Building a Structure for the Long Term
The launch was not only a celebration, but it was also a working session. Dr. Singh led a discussion on the CoPP's operational structure, setting out a practical roadmap for the year ahead. This includes defining terms of reference, developing an organogram, creating a work plan, and developing a funding and sustainability strategy.
Quarterly meetings for capacity building, stakeholder mapping ahead of onboarding new members, and use of a transition framework to guide the CoPP's evolution from pilot to scale were all identified as priorities. Participants also called for the stories emerging from this work to be documented through video, publications, and platforms like this one.
Dr. Evans Ilatsia, Deputy Director-General for Livestock at KALRO, looked beyond the ASALs context, noting that schools in urban slums face similarly pressing challenges around food insecurity and nutritional deficiency, and that future initiatives should consider extending this model to those communities too.
A Network Ready to Scale
The Kenya CoPP that launched on 13th May 2026 brings together County Departments of Agriculture and Education, Lewa Conservancy, pilot schools and their parent committees, KEMRI-PCD, Egerton University, the Ministry of Education, Light Up Hope, KALRO, and Imperial College London.
The second phase of the work is already under way. This includes scaling the production of nyota beans, vegetables, and green grams into more schools and women's groups across the region, with the long-term goal of improving household diets and generating income.
The Kenya CoPP joins a growing network of national CoPPs working with the Regenerative Food Systems Alliance, each rooted in local context and contributing to a shared global evidence base. Together, they are demonstrating what school feeding can do for children, women, communities, and the food systems that sustain us all.

This blog is part of a series aiming to convey the results and progress of the Food Systems Transformation Through School Feeding Project, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Rockefeller Foundation under the Catalyzing Change for Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems (CCHeFS) initiative. The Regenerative Food Systems Alliance is committed to documenting, supporting, and scaling community-led approaches to food system transformation. This visit was conducted by the Kenya research team in partnership with local Community of Policy and Practice members.

For more information please contact:



bottom of page