As we expand our presence in the global markets, we remain steadfast in championing sustainable strategies, and fostering community development initiatives. The call for climate action and responsible agricultural practices has never been greater, and commitment to this cause, I hope, is captured in this public document. We believe in transparency to enable our stakeholders to know what actions we are taking and in turn provide us with critical feedback.

In 2019, we developed on our first Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, marking the inception of a comprehensive assessment of our practices and impact. We have continued to enhance our public reporting to meet the everchanging landscape on public disclosures, both nationally and internationally. We seek to align ourselves not only with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, climate related disclosures on carbon emissions, water usages, waste and social performance data with specific reference to gender equality

Last year, our objective to grow superfoods in a sustainable and responsible manner was brought into stark focus by the drought conditions experienced throughout the country. The decision to invest in climate-smart agriculture enabled us to mitigate the impact of drought in our horticultural and macadamia nut operations. We are continuing with this strategy as we increase our areas under precision irrigation as well as a planned increase in our water storage capacity

As a company, over time we have invested significant resources constructing 19 separate earth dams holding 12 million cubic metres of water. This has been achieved despite the fact that there is no flowing river on Kakuzi land. For the dams to fill with water, they must have well-managed water catchment areas. What we have undertaken as a company is to conserve the ecosystem in a productive and hopefully profitable manner through our livestock operations.

This practice is fundamental to our company's integrated approach to land management. It is important to note that, if there were no water catchment areas at Kakuzi, there would be no water in the dams which in turn would severely limit our capacity to undertake sustainable agricultural production. Our agricultural model is not unique but sadly the value of water catchments is too often overlooked or discounted. I, therefore, encourage you all to be ambassadors for climate-smart agriculture.

In 2023 we launched our new purpose clearly and concisely captured in the phrase Kakuzi Growing Together. As our operations grow, so do the opportunities we as a business have to provide innovative interventions that we believe give all of our stakeholders an opportunity to grow along side and in conjunction with us. As the Board Chair, I commit this ESG report to demonstrate our commitment to our cause, lifting others as we rise.

In 2022, we continued to demonstrate our commitment to responsibly grown food production through our work and interventions on ethics, environmental stewardship, climate action and being a good corporate citizenship through our Kakuzi, Community Partnership programmes. We continued to carry out the foregoing through the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's), in alignment with our published ESG reports.

Kakuzi PLC is much more than just products, it is absolutely about purpose. We make our money from the land, but we fundamentally believe that our value is generated by what we stand for; Our purpose, and critically what it is seen to stand for.

Our purpose of 'Growing Together' has to account for what the world wants from us, it has to demonstrate our credentials transparently and authentically, recognising our responsibility and obligation to wider society. Our purpose goes to the core of our organisation whether it’s through our Kakuzi Community Partnership Programs which support education, sanitation, and environmental enrichment, or through our technical extension work of showing farmers how to grow the crops we grow, or our environmental stewardship programs which we practice daily to preserve and enhance our orchards.

In 2022, we continued to demonstrate our commitment to growing together, ethics, sustainability and good corporate citizenship practices through interactions with and involvement of key stakeholders. We continued to carry out the foregoing through the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in alignment with our published ESG reports.

The year saw agriculture being confirmed as the dominant economic sector in Kenya, accounting for about 21 percent of the overall GDP. Data from the Economic Survey 2023 report shows that the industry would have performed better, but drought in most parts of the country severely affected agricultural production. However, at Kakuzi, our irrigation investments did mitigate the worst impacts of this drought.

As a company, we have aligned our strategic growth plans to the National Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy, as promoted by the strategy’s theme: Towards Sustainable Agricultural Transformation and Food Security. We are working closely with government agencies and authorities such as the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS), to expand our markets and our sustainably grown value-added range.

At Kakuzi, we are not just an agricultural producer, but a quality superfoods producer and a very large one at that. Last year, we were the largest producer of avocados in Kenya and probably now the largest single-estate macadamia producer. We were the first company to bring commercial blueberry production to Kenya, and if all goes to plan, this will expand considerably. If the commercial trials are successful an expansion into blueberries would bring further diversification to the business, enhancing profits and naturally creating additional value for both the company and shareholders.

Market diversification for Kakuzi is a key part of our strategy not only for export but also for the burgeoning regional markets. As a country, we are the 5th largest exporter of avocados in the world and it’s important to note that by 2030, 50 percent of all fresh produce will be consumed in Asia.

As a result, Kenya needs to continue to increase the number of countries we can sell products, and we need to do this with favourable terms of trade. Having the combination of avocado, macadamia and hopefully blueberries as export crops being sent to America, Japan, Europe, China, the Middle East, and the UK, as well as a strong domestic value addition range, we believe, gives us the greatest opportunities to minimise risk and maximise returns.

Consumers question where their food comes from and how it is grown. Our ‘Farm to Fork’ pledge means that our consumers are reassured that the food they purchase from us has been grown responsibly. We see this market growing quickly for grass-fed beef, kabuzi, macadamia oil and nuts, as well as blueberries.

During the year, we became the first commercial exporter of Africangrown avocados to China with a shipment of nine containers of quality export-grade avocados. Whilst the volumes are currently small, the development of this new market is critical to Kakuzi and Kenya. We will continue to engage trade partners in China, and other Far-East countries, to capitalise on our geographical advantage against the traditional South American suppliers to the Chinese market.

An essential priority for our company has been and continues to be the operationalisation of the UN Guiding Principles (UNGP) on Business and Human Rights. To strengthen human rights within Kakuzi, we have mainstreamed human rights in line with UNGP Human Rights Standards. Additionally, we appointed a renowned Jurist Justice (Rtd.) Violet Mavisi as the Independent Lead of Kakuzi’s Operational Level Grievance Mechanism (OGM). The naming of Ms. Mavisi has provided impetus to our ongoing efforts to maintain an independently validated human rights management standards. During the year, our corporate community partnerships undertook interventions in education, sanitation, clean water, health, and road infrastructure.

During the year, we also received a global certification confirming that our avocado and blueberry farming operations adhere to a sustainable approach to water resources management. We received the GLOBALG.A.P. “SPRING” Certificate of Conformity, a farm-level certification that helps producers, retailers, and traders demonstrate their commitment to sustainable water management.