Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Bett.

Managing Director Climate Innovation Centre Mwangi.

Third Secretary and Vice Consul Maynard.

Other directors, stakeholders, and journalists.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning!  I am pleased to be here today as we celebrate this tripartite agreement to solidify the partnership among Wanda Organic; ELR Family Trading Co. Inc.; and Richfund International, Co. Ltd.

The U.S. Government is a committed partner of Kenya in agriculture, supporting Kenya through President Obama’s Feed the Future global program.  Feed the Future aims to reduce poverty and stunting by 20 percent through agriculture. Its Kenya Innovation Engine bridges the gap and catalyzes private investment by reducing investors’ risk in backing innovations to address food security, malnutrition, and poverty across Kenya.

Wanda Organic is a 7.7 million Kenya shilling program that has trained more than 2,000 smallholder farmers in the use of Plantmate Organic Fertilizer.  This special blended fertilizer contains micro-organisms which unlock soil nutrients, improving soil fertility and crop production.

Across Kenya, the United States, and around the world, young people want to start businesses of their own.  They dream of creating companies to shape their own destinies and improve the lives of others.

Entrepreneurship creates new jobs, new businesses and new ways of seeing the world.  It finds new ways to deliver basic services.  It offers positive alternatives to the ideologies of violence and division that all too often fill the void when young people don’t see futures for themselves.

President Obama noted during the Global Entrepreneur Summit that entrepreneurship brings down barriers between communities and cultures and builds bridges that help us take on common challenges together. In this spirit, we celebrate the success of Wanda Organic and the promise of the signing of this tripartite agreement.

In the coming years, entrepreneurship will be critical for Kenya. A recent research organization called Endeavor, noted that Kenya’s workforce is projected to grow by 3.4 million people by 2020. Yet, already more than 1.5 million people are unemployed in Kenya, more than a third between the ages of 15 and 24.

Entrepreneurs can help fill this gap. Worldwide, small and medium enterprises contribute significantly, generating some 86 percent of new jobs in the formal sector.  In Kenya, fostering high-growth start-ups is particularly critical for new jobs.  The same study also found so-called “scale up entrepreneurs”—that is, those entrepreneurs with companies more than three years old with a minimum of 20 percent average annual growth — represent only five percent of Kenyan firms, but create over 70 percent of total new jobs.

So what can be done to create the conditions that allow these firms to innovate and grow to create jobs and solve critical social problems? Endeavor’s survey of more than 1,000 entrepreneurs revealed three key barriers: human capital, access to markets, and funding.

The U.S. Government appreciates that these barriers are more stringent to entrepreneurs within the agriculture and agribusiness space.  Its Kenya Innovation Engine bridges the gap and catalyzes private investment by reducing investors’ risk in backing innovations to address food security, malnutrition, and poverty across Kenya.

One of these innovations, Wanda Organic, is the reason we are all gathered here today.  The USAID partnership with Wanda Organic dates back to 2012, when Wanda founder, Marion Moon replied to an open call for innovation proposals.  Through the Innovation Engine, USAID has supported Wanda Organic over a two-crop cycle period through a grant and technical assistance mechanism.

Field demonstrations and smallholder-adoption records indicate Plantmate increases yields by at least 30 percent while reducing cost of inputs for other chemicals and fertilizers by 20 percent.  This result translates to a 53 percent increase in the value of sales. To date, Wanda has sold more than 190,000 kilograms of Plantmate to farmers.

USAID is pleased to note that these initial results have enabled Wanda Organic's innovation to move on to the pilot roll-out phase -- the next stage of innovation implementation under the Innovation Engine program. The Innovation Engine will continue to support Wanda as it benefits more smallholders across Feed the Future geographies. We also will back it at the institutional level, as Wanda strengthens its distribution and business models.

As a social enterprise, managing the cost of the final product to the smallholders is a crucial component to ensuring Wanda’s sustainability, profitability and increased impact.  Through this local production tripartite agreement, the cost of the product will gradually diminish as sales volumes increase, jobs will be created and more smallholders will have access to and be able to afford this product.

Today, we salute a vibrant Kenyan entrepreneur and her partners, ELR Family Trading Co. Inc. and Richfund International, Co. Ltd. from the Philippines. We also celebrate the partnership with the Government of Kenya and thank especially Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization the Hon. Adan Mohammed and the Ministry of Agriculture for the support to Wanda Organic.

Thank you.