New York – September 19, 2026 -- Beast Philanthropy and The Rockefeller Foundation will fund regenerative school meal (RSM) programs reaching approximately 4,000 children in Ghana's Eastern Region and Kenya's Bomet County over the next five years, providing lunch five days a week sourced from local farmers.
Partnership targets ten schools in Ghana, three in Kenya at launch
In Ghana, the initiative starts across ten schools serving nine communities in the Eastern Region, working with CARE, Fairtrade Africa, West Akyem Co-operative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union, and Gold Coast Nutrition Fund to expand agroforestry and intercropping among cocoa farmers. In Kenya, the program begins in three schools in Bomet County, linking fortified bean producers to school supply chains through The Rockefeller Foundation's existing work with AGRA and deploying solar-powered clean-cooking infrastructure.
Rockefeller Foundation has already committed $6.75 million to regional school meal programs
The Rockefeller Foundation has invested more than $6.75 million over the past five years to expand school meal programs in Ghana and Kenya prior to this partnership, which was first announced in late November 2025. Leaders from both organizations visited schools in both countries in January 2026 to assess needs before designing the current initiatives.
Clean cooking systems from local firms Ecobora and BURN Manufacturing already installed
In Kenya, The Rockefeller Foundation has installed a hybrid solar-electric cooking system from youth-led company Ecobora in one school and a farm-waste-briquette-powered cookstove from BURN Manufacturing in another. The Foundation's partner, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, will explore providing electricity access for meal preparation in Ghana as the program scales.
MrBeast frames food access as prerequisite to education gains
Beast Philanthropy, founded by Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast), has built six schools in the past twelve months and says hunger undermines the educational benefit of that construction. "Partnering with The Rockefeller Foundation to provide nutritious, locally grown meals to these kids is a total game-changer,