Kenyan nutritionist and social entrepreneur Wawira Njiru has been named the 2026 laureate of the German Africa Prize, adding another major international recognition to a year in which her work has also earned her the DVF Leadership Award and a place on the TIME100 Next list.
Njiru, the founder and CEO of Food4Education, was recognised by the German Africa Foundation for her work tackling child hunger and developing a school feeding model that connects nutrition with education, local food production, employment and economic opportunity.
The award will be formally presented in Berlin in November.
But Njiru’s journey to the recognition began on a much smaller scale. In 2012, while studying at Daystar University, she started preparing meals for 25 children after recognising how hunger was affecting their ability to learn.
What began as a small effort has since grown into Food4Education, which now provides meals to more than 660,000 children every day across 1,900 schools in Kenya. The initiative has served more than 200 million meals since its founding.
The scale of the programme has also expanded its impact beyond the classroom.
Food4Education works with local farmers and communities as part of its school feeding model, creating a market for agricultural producers while supporting the systems needed to prepare and deliver meals to hundreds of thousands of children.
The organisation also employs thousands of people, with women and young people making up a significant proportion of its workforce.
This broader model is part of what has made Njiru’s work notable. Her approach treats school feeding not simply as a welfare intervention, but as an opportunity to connect children’s nutrition and education with local economic activity.
The German Africa Prize is the latest recognition of that approach. The German Africa Foundation has highlighted Njiru’s work in building a model that links school meals with local food production, employment and economic development, recognising the wider economic and social impact of Food4Education.
The honour also comes after a significant year of recognition for Njiru.
In September, she was among the women honoured with the 2026 DVF Leadership Award. The award, established by Diane von Furstenberg and the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, recognises women working to improve lives and develop solutions to major global challenges.
Njiru was also named to the 2026 TIME100 Next list, which recognises individuals regarded as emerging leaders across different fields. She was included in the Advocates and Changemakers category for her work expanding school feeding in Kenya.
Together, the recognitions place Njiru’s work within a wider global conversation about women building solutions to social and economic challenges.
