Governor Sakaja breaks ground for 7 more kitchens under 'Dishi Na County' school feeding program

These kitchens mark the third phase of the initiative, aiming to provide hot and nutritious meals to schoolchildren across Nairobi. According to the Governor, upon completion, each sub-county in Nairobi will have its own central kitchen.

The seven schools selected for phase three of the kitchens are: Dandora 1 Primary School (Embakasi East), Donholm Primary School (Embakasi North), Mutuini Primary School (Dagoretti South), Uhuru Gardens Primary School (Langata), Ndururuno Primary School (Starehe), Umoja 1 Primary School (Embakasi West), and Zawadi Primary School (Kamkunji).

Governornor Sakaja at the groundbreaking on one of the kitchens.

The groundbreaking ceremonies for six of these kitchens took place on Tuesday, with the final ceremony for the Kamkunji kitchen expected soon.

Once operational, these kitchens are expected to significantly expand the reach of the Dishi Na County program, increasing the number of schoolchildren benefiting from 184,000 to over 310,000 across public primary schools and Early Childhood Development Centres in Nairobi. 

Parents are only required to pay Ksh.5 per learner daily, with the remainder of the costs being covered by the County Government of Nairobi.

Governor Sakaja noted that the Dishi Na County program has consequently enhanced enrolment in schools. 

"The enrolment in public schools has gone up to over 310,000 kids from the initial 250,000 when we did the census and this can be attributed to the subsidized meal provided by the county at a cost of only Ksh.5,” said the Governor while groundbreaking the Kitchen at Ndururuno Primary school.

The Dishi na County Programme was inaugurated in June 2023 with the groundbreaking of 10 central kitchens, followed by the serving of the first meal on August 28, 2023. 

The second phase commenced in January 2024, with the operationalization of 10 central kitchens, ensuring that 184,000 children from 106 public schools received hot nutritious meals.