
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has detailed how his administration is monitoring students in the capital to ensure they benefit from the Dishi na County school feeding initiative.
During the Ministerial Meeting on the Global School Meals Coalition held in Nairobi on Tuesday, October 29, the Governor explained that the tracking is accomplished using Dishi na County smartwatches.
The Dishi na County program is designed to be accessible to all students, with parents contributing a nominal fee of Ksh 5 through a Tap2Eat payment system integrated into a digital Near Field Communication (NFC) watch.
These watches allow the County Government to leverage technology and data to ensure that all pupils in Nairobi’s schools receive adequate meals. The Governor noted that the watches were developed in Kenya by local youth.
Governor Sakaja remarked, “If you walk around Nairobi, you will notice that all our children are wearing these watches. Nairobi is a Silicon Savanna, a hub of innovation, and it is our young people who created this technology.”
He added that the watches not only track meal consumption but also monitor school attendance, identifying which children have missed school and how frequently.
Praising the technology, the Governor stated that it has helped reduce food waste by using data from these devices to determine the optimal amount of food to prepare.
He emphasized that the children appreciate the watches because they provide a sense of identity. “It’s more than just a watch; the kids don’t want to take them off when they go home. They feel loved, seen, and valued, which gives them dignity.”
Sakaja assured that no child is denied a meal due to a lack of funds, saying, “If a child’s account doesn’t have Ksh 5, we make a note and cover the cost.”
The watches were created by the Kenyan social enterprise Food for Education as part of the Tap2Eat NFC cashless payment system. Students use a Tap2Eat NFC wristband linked to their parents’ accounts to pay for meals by tapping it on an NFC reader, which deducts the meal cost and sends a notification to their parents within five seconds.
The Governor made these remarks while welcoming World Food Program leaders who were meeting with President Ruto to discuss issues related to providing nutritious meals for schoolchildren in Kenya.
President Ruto highlighted the significance of feeding students, who represent the nation’s future. “To tackle this issue, we have tripled the budget for school feeding programs and set an ambitious goal: to expand coverage from 2.6 million to 10 million children by 2030,” he stated.