Hailemariam Dessalegn Urges African Leaders To Scale Up Regenerative School Meals As Key To Agenda 2063
Former Ethiopian First Lady Roman Tesfaye Honored at UN Food Systems Summit +4 for Pioneering School Meals as a Catalyst for African Development
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – July 26, 2025 – The halls of the UN Food Systems Summit +4 (UNFSS+4) High-Level Convening in Addis Ababa today resonated with a powerful call for the scaling up of regenerative school meals across Africa, delivered by former Ethiopian Prime Minister and current AGRA Board Chair, Hailemariam Dessalegn. In a deeply personal and visionary keynote, Dessalegn highlighted these programs as a transformative tool to advance the African Union’s Agenda 2063, while profoundly acknowledging the foundational work of his wife, Roman Tesfaye, the former First Lady of Ethiopia.
The convening, titled “Nourishing the Future through Regenerative School Meals,” gathered African leaders, global partners, and development experts to assess progress and strategize future actions in transforming food systems. Hailemariam began his address with a heartfelt tribute to Roman Tesfaye, emphasizing her pivotal role in shaping his understanding of school meal programs. “Before I go any further,” he stated, “allow me to offer a very personal note of thanks to Roman Tesfaye, the former First Lady of Ethiopia and the mother of our three wonderful children, for showing me the profound significance of school meal programs, and for her unwavering dedication to supporting remote and underserved communities.”
He passionately lauded Roman Tesfaye as a trailblazer who “boldly championed school meals in Ethiopia when few others recognized their full potential.” Her pioneering initiatives in Addis Ababa directly impacted over 27,000 children, earning her the affectionate title of “a mother to more than 27,000 children whose lives have been touched by her deep commitment to nourishment, education, and dignity.” Through the Hailemariam & Roman Foundation, her legacy continues to thrive, supporting ten primary schools in South Omo, one of Ethiopia’s most underserved pastoral regions.
These programs offer daily nutritious meals, significantly reducing dropout rates, enhancing educational outcomes, and simultaneously creating vital income opportunities for mothers and strengthening local food systems. This comprehensive approach exemplifies how a single school meal can ripple outwards, driving transformative change across entire communities.
Hailemariam’s address powerfully articulated a shift in perspective: school meals are no longer merely a matter of education or nutrition. They are now recognized as a central pillar of Africa’s sustainable development strategy. “Let’s be clear,” he asserted. “Regenerative school meals are among the most cost-effective and scalable ways to build sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient food systems. They feed minds, empower farmers, and heal the land—all at once.” This concept of “regenerative school meals” transcends basic sustenance, advocating for holistic programs that:
- Promote Environmental Sustainability: By prioritizing locally sourced ingredients and promoting clean cooking solutions, these programs minimize carbon footprints and reduce deforestation, aligning with broader climate action goals.
- Empower Local Economies: Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) models create stable and predictable markets for smallholder farmers, particularly women and youth, stimulating local agricultural production and fostering economic growth within rural communities.
- Enhance Nutritional Security: Moving beyond basic rations, regenerative school meals focus on diverse and nutrient-rich diets, often incorporating traditional and climate-resilient crops, to combat malnutrition and improve health outcomes.
- Strengthen Community Resilience: By fostering a circular economy where local produce feeds local schools, communities become less dependent on external aid and more resilient to economic shocks and climate vulnerabilities.
The vision, Hailemariam articulated, is “bold but achievable: a continent where every child is nourished, every farmer is empowered, and no one is left behind.” He underscored that school meals are not only a social good but a powerful catalyst for Africa’s future, directly contributing to the aspirations of Agenda 2063 in areas such as quality education, improved health and nutrition, poverty reduction, and inclusive growth. Indeed, studies show that every $1 invested in school meals can generate up to $20 in social and economic returns, highlighting their profound multiplier effect.
While celebrating the significant progress of 65 million children across Africa now benefiting from school meal programs, Hailemariam emphasized the urgent moral and developmental imperative to reach the remaining 23 million children who still attend school hungry. “This is not just a statistic—it is a moral wake-up call and a development opportunity we must seize,” he urged the global community.
Africa is emerging as a beacon of innovation and commitment in scaling up these vital programs, providing inspiring models for other regions.
- Ethiopia stands out with its nationwide program reaching over 10 million children, a testament to robust government commitment and a blueprint for large-scale implementation.
- Kenya has achieved a significant milestone by ensuring that school meals in all public primary schools are 100% government funded, demonstrating a powerful commitment to universal access. Furthermore, organizations like Food4Education are pioneering innovative, tech-enabled solutions to provide nutritious, low-cost meals, utilizing a hub-and-spoke model and opening Africa’s largest green-energy “Giga Kitchen.” These initiatives not only feed children but also create jobs, support smallholder farmers (sourcing 80% of ingredients from them), and strengthen local economies.
- In Ghana, the School Feeding Programme serves approximately 1.7 million children and employs more than 34,000 caterers, most of them women, showcasing the profound economic empowerment fostered by these programs, particularly for women in rural communities.
- Rwanda’s school feeding program also stands as a notable example, significantly improving student attendance, cognition, and academic performance for 1.26 million primary school children, meeting a substantial portion of their daily nutritional requirements. Rwanda has achieved impressive universal coverage, increasing its support from 640,000 children in 2020 to 3.8 million in 2022.
- Across the continent, many African nations are at the forefront of Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) initiatives. These programs prioritize local sourcing from small-scale farmers, thereby boosting agricultural development and creating stable markets for local producers. This not only ensures fresh, culturally appropriate food for students but also strengthens rural livelihoods and builds climate resilience. In Burkina Faso, for instance, a project enabling schools to cultivate their own produce has led to significant harvests, ensuring meals for students and providing agricultural skills.
To further accelerate progress towards Agenda 2063 and ensure every child has access to nutritious school meals, Hailemariam called for stronger multi-sectoral coordination, greater domestic investment, and the strategic integration of smallholder farmers—particularly women and youth—into school meal supply chains. According to information released by the Hailemariam & Roman Foundation , He emphasized innovative financing mechanisms, including exploring “debt-for-school-feeding” swaps, as a potent way to mobilize resources for these vital programs. This holistic approach, he concluded, is essential for building resilient, equitable, and sustainable food systems that will truly nourish Africa’s future generations and serve as a beacon of hope and practical solutions for the continent and the world.
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