By Napoleon Kajunju, Justice Munthali, Yohane Chideya, Eliud Birachi, and Jean Claude Rubyogo
A major milestone in food systems transformation was marked at the 2025 Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT Science Week in Vientiane, Laos from June 9–13, 2025, as the Outcome Impact Case Report (OICR) “Over 2.7 million Africans Accessed High-Iron Beans (HIB) Through School Meals in 2024” received the Second Most Outstanding Outcome Award at Impact Level 3. This is an accolade reserved for achievements with demonstrable, large-scale results backed by rigorous data and stakeholder collaboration.
This recognition highlights large-scale, evidence-backed nutrition gains achieved through collaborative efforts to integrate biofortified high-iron beans into school feeding programs across Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2024 alone, 2.77 million people benefitted—an outcome made possible by coordinated efforts among governments, NGOs, the private sector, and global partners under the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA).
Led by Justice Munthali, Senior Research Associate responsible for Nutrition, the report builds on growth from 720,000 HIB consumers in 2019 to over 22 million by 2023, driven by strategic investments in nutrition, school meals, and climate-smart agriculture.
Scientific advances behind this impact include the development of biofortified bean varieties with enhanced iron content, high bioavailability, and climate-smart traits, alongside processed HIB products like composite flours and precooked beans that reduce cooking time and energy use. Evidence-based delivery models, such as Rwanda’s Sustainable School Feeding Innovations (SSFI), reached over 277,000 students in 195 schools while also generating carbon credits. Digital innovations like Kenya’s school meal dashboard, part of the Food for Education Program, improved meal delivery and learning outcomes for over 170,000 students daily.
Country-level success stories illustrate the breadth of the impact. In Rwanda, Farm Fresh’s precooked beans improved school meals and nutrition while lowering carbon emissions. In 2024 alone, 277,566 students across 195 schools benefited from HIB-based meals. In Tanzania, HIB has reached 915 schools since 2015, serving over 402,000 students; AGRA’s school meal initiative alone has impacted over 400,000 children. Kenya’s Food for Education Program provides daily HIB-rich meals to 170,000 students, with an additional 7,060 children reached in five counties and over 400,000 children nationwide impacted through AGRA-supported efforts.
Furthermore, in Malawi, nearly 500,000 students across 106 schools accessed HIB meals, with a Waterloo Foundation project reaching 6,000 learners in 20 schools. The World Food Programme plans to expand this model to potentially serve 200,000 students in 200 schools. In DRC, under the Beans for Women Empowerment (B4WE) and Integrated Project on Agricultural Growth in the Great Lakes region (PICAGL) initiatives, seed packs and demonstrations reached 2,911 students and community members.
This scale-up has been supported by a wide network of partners, including the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), HarvestPlus, the Rockefeller Foundation, World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Caritas, World Vision, Nascent Solutions, Clinton Foundation, Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication (CBCC), Actions for Development Programmes (ADP) Mbozi, Research, Community, and Development Associates, and the Youth Peace Maker Organization. Private sector partners such as Cherubet, BIVAC, Crop Bioscience Solution (CBS), Farm Fresh Food Company, Agriche Foods, and Tawina also played vital roles.
PABRA’s approach emphasizes inclusion, gender equity, and climate resilience. Women and youth are central to bean processing enterprises and monitoring adoption, while HIB varieties support sustainable agriculture by improving soil health and enabling carbon credit systems. Capacity-building programs have empowered teachers, students, civil servants, and entrepreneurs with knowledge in nutrition, value chains, and sustainable farming.
The outcomes align with several UN Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), by ensuring access to nutrient-rich food; SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), by improving iron intake and child development; and SDG 13 (Climate Action), through low-energy cooking solutions and carbon offset initiatives. The work also supports One CGIAR’s strategic pillars of nutrition, climate adaptation, poverty reduction, gender equality, and ecosystem health.
The 2025 award celebrates a significant achievement in scaling impact and reinforces the value of continued investment in biofortified crops, school meal systems, and inclusive, resilient food solutions. As PABRA continues to expand its innovations, the High-Iron Beans story stands as a powerful model for transforming food systems across Africa—and globally.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Cover Photo: Proud Moments: Authors of the report celebrate their achievement, posing with certificates in recognition of their valuable contributions.