School farms are emerging as an innovative solution to food insecurity, poor nutrition and climate challenges in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), offering learners regular meals while equipping communities with practical climate-smart farming skills.
At Inaarok Lukuny Comprehensive School in Kajiado County, a five-acre piece of previously idle land has been transformed into a climate-smart demonstration farm that supplements school meals and serves as a learning centre for sustainable agriculture.
The initiative is being implemented under the Transforming Pastoralist Food Systems through School Meals in Kenya project, a partnership between the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) and Imperial College London with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
The project seeks to strengthen school feeding systems in Kenya’s ASALs by linking locally produced food with improved nutrition, climate-smart agriculture and community participation. Working with partners including Light Up Hope, a Non-Governmental Organization, the programme promotes local food production to improve school meals while enhancing resilience to climate change.
Research conducted by KALRO established that existing School Feeding Programmes in many ASAL schools were unable to adequately meet nutritional needs due to limited dietary diversity, inconsistent food supplies and weak linkages between schools and local farmers.
To address these gaps, pilot school farms were established in selected schools in Kajiado and Isiolo counties to demonstrate how food production, nutrition and community learning can be integrated within school feeding programmes.
At Inaarok Lukuny School, the farm features maize and bean intercropping alongside the cultivation of beans, green grams and vegetables. It also showcases climate-smart practices including the use of livestock manure to improve soil fertility, rainwater harvesting and the production of drought-tolerant crops such as the high-iron Nyota bean variety.
KALRO researcher Dr. Simon Omondi said the project demonstrates that dryland agriculture can thrive when farmers adopt appropriate technologies and climate-resilient crop varieties.
“Before this initiative, not even a single acre had been cultivated here. Through this project, schools like Inaarok Lukuny have shown that food production is possible in dryland areas when the right approaches are applied,” he said.
Dr. Omondi noted that produce harvested from the school farm supplements school meals, improving dietary diversity while reducing dependence on externally supplied food commodities.
He added that the initiative also strengthens collaboration between schools and surrounding farming communities, creating a more sustainable school feeding model anchored on local food production.
Head teacher Mr. Topoika Monda said the school farm, which supplements the school feeding programme, has contributed to improved learner attendance, retention and enrolment.
He said the school previously struggled with low attendance and high dropout rates as food insecurity among households in the area affected learners’ ability to remain in school. To support the feeding programme, the school allocated five acres of land for food production, with produce from the farm supplementing meals served to learners.
“The feeding programme has transformed our school. Absenteeism has dropped to near zero, learners no longer drop out and pupils are now lively and active in class. We are witnessing an increase in enrolment, with our population now approaching 600 learners,” he said.
Mr. Monda said the school farm has also become a practical learning site under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), where learners, parents and local women’s groups gain hands-on skills in agriculture, soil conservation and sustainable land management.
He noted that learners have become ambassadors of climate-smart agriculture in their homes by sharing farming knowledge acquired at school with their families.
“The children are taking what they learn at school back home and helping their parents understand better farming methods and land management practices,” he said.
The headteacher, however, identified water scarcity and crop destruction by livestock and wildlife as major challenges affecting the expansion of the farm.
He said the school requires fencing to protect crops from destruction and a reliable water source to support irrigation and increase production.
“We urgently need fencing to protect crops from livestock and wild animals, as well as a reliable borehole to provide sufficient water for irrigation,” he said.
Beyond supporting school meals, the farm has become a community demonstration centre where families learn climate-smart farming techniques suited to pastoral areas.
Parents contribute labour and livestock manure to support farm activities, while women’s groups receive practical training on water conservation, crop production and livestock feed management.
The initiative has strengthened collaboration between schools and surrounding communities, encouraging pastoralist households to diversify their livelihoods while complementing traditional livestock production.
During a visit to the school, Kajiado Deputy Governor Martin Moshisho commended the initiative, describing it as a practical approach to addressing food insecurity through local solutions.
He pledged county government support to help expand the project by addressing infrastructure challenges, including fencing to protect crops from livestock and wildlife.
“As the saying goes, it is better to teach someone how to fish than to give them fish every day. This project is doing exactly that by equipping learners and communities with practical farming skills,” Moshisho said.
The Deputy Governor also said the county government would explore options for providing a borehole through its development programmes or partnerships to support irrigation and ensure year-round food production at the school.
By Rop Janet
