At Kyambogo University, student-led Learn and Lunch is pushing affordable, healthier meals as hunger and poor nutrition rise on campus—challenging the cycle through practical meal changes.
Kyambogo University students say too many classmates are either skipping meals or eating in ways that don’t protect their health.
The concern is growing across higher education, where hunger is no longer a rare hardship.. During a training held on April 25, 2025, student leaders under the Learn and Lunch initiative gathered with partners to promote affordable and healthier eating—an effort framed not just as “feeding people,” but tackling the nutrition gap facing the next generation.
The session, organised through Learn and Lunch in partnership with Body and Soil, brought together students as hunger pressures continued to collide with a quieter problem: poor nutrition among young adults who will later be responsible for their communities’ futures.. Mercy Lawino, a Kyambogo student and a Learn and Lunch member, argued that hunger should not be treated as a personal failure.
“Hunger is not a student’s failure; it’s a systemic problem,” Lawino said.. “For a long time, campus hunger was normalised.. But it’s not normal, and it shouldn’t be accepted.” Her point landed with fellow students who describe a daily pattern—arriving hungry, relying on cheap options, and trying to make the day last with food that offers limited nutrition.
While earlier reporting has pointed to financial strain pushing some students to skip meals, many who manage to eat still depend on low-cost, stomach-filling foods.. The common rhythm sounds familiar: chapati and black tea in the morning, then chapati with beans or fried snacks later.. The result, nutrition advocates warn, is a diet heavy in carbohydrates, oils, and sugars—energy that may carry students through class hours, but does little to build long-term health.
Why “cheap” food can become a health trap
Nutrition experts supporting the initiative say the consequences are starting to show.. Alfred Atuhungira Mihanda, a nutritionist from Nutrisafe working with the programme, warned that many students’ diets can be made up of roughly four-fifths carbohydrates, with limited access to protein, vegetables, and fruits.. That kind of intake, he explained, can leave immunity weak, with students falling sick repeatedly during a semester.
The concern extends beyond what students eat to what is used to cook it.. Food safety risks are part of the discussion, especially where street food is the default option for students living off-campus.. Concerns raised in the training linked to findings about harmful compounds associated with some cooking oils used by street food vendors, particularly where fried foods dominate the daily menu.. Experts involved in the initiative cautioned that long-term health risks cannot be ignored, even if the food looks affordable in the moment.
For many students, the choice is not between “healthy” and “unhealthy,” but between what they can afford and what they can tolerate. Hendry Ruma Daniel, an assistant lecturer in nutritional sciences at Kyambogo University, described a tough trade-off cost creates for student diets.
“Students are choosing what they can afford, not necessarily what is healthy,” he said. “Many are eating foods high in fats, salt and sugar simply because they are convenient and cheap.”
Learn and Lunch pushes practical meal shifts
Learn and Lunch, founded in 2025, is a student-led response aimed at reducing food insecurity and nutrition gaps in higher education.. Through an ambassador programme, the initiative says it has reached at least 1,800 students with information, advocacy, and practical solutions around affordable and healthier eating.
Instead of prescribing unrealistic meal plans, the Kyambogo training focused on what students can actually change within tight budgets and crowded schedules.. Students were introduced to small adjustments—adding more vegetables where possible, using more nutritious local ingredients, and modifying everyday foods such as chapati to improve nutritional value.
The emphasis matters because hunger is shaped by daily systems, not just individual decisions.. Lawino pointed to gaps in funding, weak regulation of food vendors, and the absence of structured nutrition support systems on campuses.. In practical terms, that means even motivated students can get trapped in the same routine when the environment offers few safe, nutritious, and affordable options.
One human detail students repeatedly recognise in conversations about hunger is how quickly energy dips affect concentration.. When food choices are limited, mornings can start with little more than tea and bread-like meals, and the long stretch between classes can make convenience win over nutrition.. That everyday reality is why the campaign’s approach—building demand for better options while supporting students with knowledge—is framed as a bridge, not a slogan.
A broader campus challenge, not a one-off campaign
The training also fits into a wider push to challenge how universities and policymakers respond to student welfare. Students involved in Learn and Lunch argue that solutions must go beyond awareness and reach the structures that determine what campus life costs—and what food is available.
Body & Soil founder Maria Eva Schiffer, an agro-nutritionist consultant, stressed shifting both knowledge and demand, underscoring that nutrition is not only about recipes but about what markets supply and what institutions encourage.. If demand for healthier, affordable meals grows, the next question becomes whether universities can support procurement, campus nutrition programmes, and safer food standards.
For students living through each semester on the edge of hunger, the stakes are personal and immediate.. For universities, the message is broader: if poor nutrition becomes normalised, it can shape attendance, performance, and health outcomes for years.. Learn and Lunch’s push at Kyambogo University is trying to stop that “new normal” before it fully settles in.