I am pleased to present our fifth Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report. Our commitment to sustainable agricultural practices, good governance and strong community linkages, through our Company, Community Partnership programs is unwavering. As we grow our Company it is imperative that we continue to develop these and other sustainability credentials.

Since we began our ESG reporting five years ago we have been engaged in a process that focuses on the future while consciously reviewing our current operations, so they do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This is the essence of sustainability, and we must continuously re-engineer our operating policies to echo this commitment which positions Kakuzi as a sustainable agribusiness.

Last year (2023), we embarked on a transformative journey with the launch of our new corporate purpose, encapsulated in the phrase 'Kakuzi Growing Together'. This branding process allowed us to redefine our brand values, philosophies, and related pillars which collectively provide us with our license to operate.

Importantly, it signified our dedication to not only meet market demands, but also to address sustainability initiatives which foster support from local communities and other stakeholders. As our operations expand, so should the opportunities for all stakeholders to thrive alongside us under this diversification and economic inclusion strategy.

Developing an agricultural portfolio that responsibly grows our range of superfoods is central to our commitment to sustainability. We continuously focus on critical issues such as water stewardship, carbon emissions reduction and waste minimisation. Moreover, we are actively exploring additional initiatives to mitigate atmospheric carbon dioxide in the future.

We understand that sustainability is an ongoing journey requiring unceasing reflection and action. While we acknowledge the challenges ahead, our resolve to do what is right is steadfast. We continue to progressively embrace six of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to accelerate our progress, leveraging them as a framework to drive development in this critical decade of action.

At Kakuzi, we recognise the importance of collaboration and collective action in effecting meaningful change. That's the main reason why we consistently track, measure and present our Environmental, Social and Governance impacts in such a detailed report.

We remain deeply committed to engaging with all stakeholders, including our employees, local communities and government bodies for the continued development of the resources entrusted to us. We do this for the betterment of both present and future generations.

As the custodian of our corporate governance policies, my Board of Directors pledges to uphold the values and principles enshrined in this ESG report.

At Kakuzi, our ESG journey is a collective effort, spanning from the Board of Directors to the management, staff members and our business partners. Your role in this journey is invaluable, and we appreciate your commitment and support.

As we reflect on Kakuzi PLC's 2023 sustainability journey, we are mindful of the challenges our planet faces where we as an agribusiness must play our part to mitigate them.

This report is a demonstration of our dedication to this purpose. We believe that we don't have all the answers to the many challenges being faced by agribusinesses but, by being transparent we are better placed to harness advice from others in this journey of continuous improvement.

As the report illustrates, we have adopted a holistic approach to enumerate and report our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) impact across our operations.

During the years under review, we continued to demonstrate our commitment towards Business and Human Rights best practices, guided by the UNGP's and the four principles of the UN Global Compact which applies to our employees, surrounding communities, those with whom we conduct business, service providers and contractors.

Our internal and independent Human Rights processes were appraised by an International Expert against the strict criteria laid down the effectiveness criteria of the UNGP's. This independent report was published on the Company's web site and importantly lists their findings as well as areas of continuous improvement.

With regard to climate action, Kakuzi PLC has continued to make efforts to set up practices which enable the company to mitigate any negative environmental impact as part of our climate action commitments. As a result of this, Kakuzi PLC became the first agricultural business in Kenya to report its carbon emissions for Scope 1 and 2 publicly in 2022, and in 2023 our Scope 3 emissions were calculated by the UK's Carbon Trust and have been included in this report.

Kakuzi's remains committed to our water stewardship programs so we don't use fragile water systems to irrigate our orchards. We currently capture 12 million cubic metres of wet season rainwater in our 19 earth dams, the plans to expand this storage by another 1 million cubic metres are already in place. We also maintained our international accreditations to assist us in maintaining best practices.

Our commitment to community and stakeholder relations continued to be demonstrated in 2023 through our Company, Community Partnerships. One of our leading programs was the energy saving cooking stove construction program which has now reached over 1,000 households.

In the year one of our key focus areas was training. We conducted training exercises ranging from health and safety, anti-sexual harassment, business and human rights to general supervisory training, totalling 95,000 individual working days, representing 13% of the 711,000 labour days the company worked.

In 2023, we also conducted our second employee satisfaction survey that interviewed some 2,000 employees, the summary of which is available on our website. We were pleased with the level of constructive comment that came out of this process and whilst we have areas of improvement, we noted that the various programs run by Kakuzi such as SIKIKA, Stand Against Alcohol and Substance Abuse (SAASA), SHARP, TABASAMU, MCH clinics, family reproductive health, and voluntary HIV sensitisation and resting programs, were well received and effective.

Kakuzi's technical department has also been working closely with the Kenyan Government and commercial sector players to expand the use of integrated pest management and technology in agriculture. To date, we have been actively engaged in pest management initiatives through partnerships with the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), and the Pesticides Control Products Board (PCPB). A key project, “Managing Scale Insects in Fresh Fruits in East Africa,” aims to enhance pest control and market access by improving surveillance of scale insect pests in key fruit-producing counties, supporting compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) export requirements for the European Union (EU) and China. Additionally, Kakuzi benefits from PCPB's expedited registration process for pest control products, which simplifies and accelerates the availability of essential solutions for emerging pests and minor crops.

It's clear that as we progress the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) undoubtedly has a role to play in the company's operations, and strategies are already in place to invest in AI-linked Ag-tech solutions as part of the company's commitment to increasing its operating efficiencies.

At Kakuzi PLC, we remain committed to lowering carbon emissions, enhancing water conservation, improving environmental stewardship, and producing quality superfoods responsibly.