Official Opening, International Sugar Organization Conference, Diani ,Kwale

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[00:00:00]Say Karibu.

[00:00:04]Over Quale Fatuma The ISO C executive director distinguished delegates, ladies It's a tool welcome you to Kenya uh from all over the world. We are happy and I'm hoping that beauty of our country.

[00:00:38]So, I wish It's a tool uh inform you that I'll be comfortable as we engage on matters sugar.

[00:00:48]We are going We are hoping that this session will enrich >> [snorts] >> the sugar sector.

[00:00:59]us We too welcome And take over the protocol from there and invite our other guests.

[00:01:12]>> [applause] >> Okay, I've been guided on the protocol.

[00:01:22]I'm informed to first invite our Jose Oribe to say something because he's the one uh who is from ISO and then from there I'll invite her uh our governor to welcome us because she's the one who is hosting. So, let's give a hand to Jose Oribe >> [applause] >> our executive director all the way from Guatemala, South of America.

[00:01:45]>> [applause] >> Habari za asubuhi.

[00:01:50]It is Any words fall short to express the honor for the International Sugar Organization to be here in this beautiful setting of Diani, Kenya. We feel like we're in paradise in order to celebrate our 68th International Council Session and our media meetings.

[00:02:10]And I am over the moon to have His Excellency the Deputy President, the Minister, the Governor, and other high-ranking authorities member parliament here with us today to [snorts] open up this conference.

[00:02:26]The sucrose and energetic sector is at a crucial juncture.

[00:02:30]And we must roll up our sleeves and work hard together.

[00:02:44]Enough talk.

[00:02:45]We need action.

[00:02:47]And we are happy to see that here in Kenya, the Sugar Board under the chairmanship of Jude Chesire is moving forward in bringing all the stakeholders of the sugarcane towards the same direction.

[00:03:04]I would also like to take this opportunity to thank those without which this event would not be possible, our sponsors, Anastasia from the KCB Bank to We are privileged to have a top lineup of speakers.

[00:03:24]His Excellency the Deputy President has specifically requested to hear about ethanol during his present. And later, we will have the world's foremost authority address this topic for us. So, without further ado, I turn it over to the Principal Secretary.

[00:03:45]So, Ndungu, you're going to take over?

[00:03:47]Thank you very much and welcome to Kenya.

[00:03:49]>> [applause] >> Uh thank you very much Jose Oribe. Jose Oribe has been with us in ISO for the last many years. I think we are doing about 13, 14 14 years. Yes. So allow me now to invite our to come and to welcome you.

[00:04:16]We have about 80 85 countries represented here from all over the world.

[00:04:22]Welcome.

[00:04:35]Honorable CS uh CEO CEOs members of parliament, members of the county assembly delegates, good morning.

[00:04:49]It's my pleasure to welcome to Diani Kwale and I'm happy I'm the happiest governor today to be hosting this great county of Kwale. Of course, we also we have a big potential in sugarcane farming.

[00:05:10]It's unfortunate that uh we've not tapped to that uh great opportunity and I'm happy uh commission with national will be able to tap and actualize get a good investor who can invest in sugarcane farming in this great county of Kwale.

[00:05:42]The white sandy beaches the game reserve and make sure you swim with the dolphin.

[00:05:53]>> [applause] >> May I take this opportunity to welcome the chair, Council of Governors, the chair agriculture, Honorable Lusaka.

[00:06:03]Karibu.

[00:06:06]>> [music] [applause] [laughter] >> Your Excellency, sorry.

[00:06:18]I have really worked hard.

[00:06:21]>> [laughter] >> So, you will allow me make my remarks on behalf of the COG.

[00:06:30]Your Excellency, the Deputy President of the Republic is my is one is not managing the sugar sector from a distance.

[00:07:06]It is engaged at the highest level with its future. We are very grateful, Your Excellency.

[00:07:13]On behalf of the Council of Governors, the constitutional voice of Kenya's 47 counties, I bring greetings from the grassroots of this economy from the men and women whose hands are in the soil every single day.

[00:07:30]gathered to discuss.

[00:07:32]Sugar is not a commodity at the margins of Kenya's economy. It's a pillar.

[00:07:37]The sugar sector directly supports the livelihoods of over 6 million Kenyans, farmers, transporters, factory workers, input suppliers, traders, and the entire rural communities whose economies rise and fall with the cane cycle.

[00:07:53]It contributes significantly to our agriculture GDP. It anchors the Western Kenya economy in ways no other crop can replace.

[00:08:01]And every reform, every commitment must be measured against their lives.

[00:08:07]If it does not reach them, it has not [clears throat] succeeded.

[00:08:10]If it does not change their their reality, it is noise.

[00:08:14]On the role of the county government, I must be unambiguous.

[00:08:18]Kenya's constitution is not silent on this matter.

[00:08:22]Agriculture is a devolved function.

[00:08:24]That is not a bureaucratic detail.

[00:08:26]It is a democratic design.

[00:08:29]Counties are not implementation agent agencies waiting for instructions from Nairobi. We are a constitutional partners in the development of this sector.

[00:08:40]County governments license farmers, support extension officers, develop irrigation and water infrastructure, manage land use, and maintain the rural roads that move cane to factories.

[00:08:52]We are the last mile. And as every And as in every supply chain expert in this room knows, the last mile is where value is either created or destroyed.

[00:09:04]Yet for long, county governments have been been consulted after sugar policy is designed rather than during its conception. This must change. An inclusive sugar economy demands inclusive governance. The Council of Governors is calling for a formal, structured, and permanent seat at the national sugar policy table.

[00:09:26]Not as guests, but as principals.

[00:09:29]When counties are empowered, the farmer is marginalized. It is the small holder who pays the price. That equation is not negotiable. Let me speak now about the the reforms because this administration deserves to be acknowledged for political courage.

[00:09:47]The Ruto administration inherited a sugar sector in deep structural distress, decades of mismanagement, debt-ridden parastatals, unpaid cane proceeds, factional politics around factories, and a regulatory environment that rewarded patronage over productivity.

[00:10:04]Turning that around was never going to be painless, and the temptation to move slowly, to protect vested interests, to manage the politics rather than fix the problem, that temptation was real.

[00:10:16]But the reforms have come. The liberalization of sugar imports has injected competitive discipline into a sector that had grown comfortable with inefficiency.

[00:10:26]The privatization of of state sugar companies, long overdue, signals the end of factories that existed to serve political interests rather than produce sugar.

[00:10:38]The push toward contract farming framework is restructuring the relationship between the farmer and the miller or on fairer, more transparent terms. The commitment to to clearing historical cane payment areas is not merely financial relief. It is a restoration of trust, and trust is the foundation on which everything else must be built. These are not cosmetic changes. They are structural. The Council of Governors stands firmly behind them. Even as we call for their implementation to be accelerated and for county governments to be empowered as full partners in the the execution.

[00:11:14]The woman who rose before sunrise this morning, she's watching.

[00:11:19]The young man who wants to build in Zoya, he's watching.

[00:11:23]Let us make sure what we see what what they say see is a government and a sector that is following through.

[00:11:31]Inclusion, Your Excellency, Honorable judges, distinguished delegates, the takeaway from Diani must be simple.

[00:11:39]into sugar policy, not periodically invited, but permanently seated. The small holder farmer must be a measure of every single reform. If it does not reach her hands, it has not worked. Investment in research, modern varieties, and irrigation infrastructure must move from proposal to implementation without further delay.

[00:12:03]Accountability must be non-negotiable.

[00:12:05]Every beyond Every beyond our borders, it feeds It feeds a regional demand that Kenya is uniquely positioned to supply.

[00:12:13]When we speak of building a sustainable, competitive, and inclusive sugar sugar economy, we are not speaking in abstractions. We are speaking about whether a mother in Mumias can afford school fees after harvest.

[00:12:27]We are speaking about whether a young man in Zoya sees farming as a future or a curse.

[00:12:33]We are speaking about national food security, rural industrialization, and Kenya's standing as an agricultural powerhouse in this continent.

[00:12:44]Excellency, honorable chair, distinguished delegates, I want to speak directly about where we meet today and what this moment demands of us. We are in a place of beauty, yes, like the governor has said, but today something more I want to speak plainly about the kind of meeting this must be.

[00:13:04]When the historians of Kenya Kenya's sugar sector sit down to write, and they will write, I want them to point to Diani.

[00:13:19]From the capitals of capitals from international institutions, from the corridors of government, they looked at each other honestly. They spoke uncomfortable truths about decades of mismanagement, about broken broken promises, about a sector that has for too long betrayed the very farmers who sustain it. And then, rather than retreating to the comfort of the familiar, they committed to something better.

[00:13:45]That is the kind of meeting this must be. Not a gathering of elegant speeches that dissolve into inaction. Not another communique filed in an annex and forgotten. Not a footnote, not a paragraph, not even a chapter of a book.

[00:14:01]A book about the moment Kenya chose transformation over incrementalism.

[00:14:13]partners aligned behind a shared vision and refused to leave the table without a binding commitment or action. A book that the future generations of sugar farmers will point to and say, "That is where it turned around. That is where they finally mend it." That is the weight of this moment. Let us carry it accordingly. I will speak about the people who sent us here because somewhere in Western Kenya, as we gather in this beautiful coastal city setting, there is a woman, a sugarcane farmer, who rose before sunrise this morning.

[00:14:44]Before the light came, she [clears throat] was already in her shamba, hands in the soil, tending to a crop she has tended season after season through the broken promises of an unpaid proceeds and grinding uncertainty of a sector that has too often let her down.

[00:15:00]She's not here asking for pity. She does not want our sympathy. She's not a a statistic in our presentations or a a photograph in our our brochures. She's asking for action.

[00:15:12]And there is a young man in Zoya, educated, ambitious, full of energy, who wants to build a future in agribusiness.

[00:15:20]He has ideas. He has the drive. He was He He has worked his parents farm the land and he wants to do more with it to build something, to create something lasting. But when he looks at the sector he's supposed to inherit, what does he see? Broken meals, bounced checks, a value chain riddled with mistrust and dysfunctional. He's not asking for our sympathy. He does not need our condolences. He's asking for our leadership.

[00:15:45]These are the two people this meeting must serve. Everything we decide here, every framework, shilling, every promise made on these shores must be tracked and reported. And as we must leave the land with urgency, not the urgency of panic, but the urgency of purpose.

[00:16:05]Human cost we can no longer can afford to ignore.

[00:16:08]Kenya's sugar belt is not a problem to be managed. It's a strategic national asset. Fertile land.

[00:16:16]The last time in a long time a government will not flinch it let Excellency governor of Bungoma who is also the chair of the agriculture committee in the council of governors.

[00:16:48]Our distinguished delegates have culture in Kenya is a devolved function and that's why it is important for us to have the people who directly interact with the our people who produce the raw materials so that we can have sugar and all the other products.

[00:17:02]So with those few remarks allow me now to welcome my boss uh honorable senator Peter Munya who is our cabinet secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. Karibu sana waziri.

[00:17:16]>> [applause] >> Good morning. Good Your Excellency, the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, the Honorable Professor Kithure Kindiki, distinguished delegates, fellow Kenyans, I welcome you this morning and heartily heartily uh particularly those from outside the Republic of Kenya.

[00:17:41]I am told that there are some 85 >> [snorts] >> or [clears throat] so countries represented here, and I want to recognize those people who may be from outside the Republic of Kenya. If you are not a Kenyan, please raise your hand.

[00:17:57]If you are not a Kenyan, >> [clears throat] >> oh, wow. Please give them a lot of applause.

[00:18:03]>> [applause] >> And we have got In my church, we have got a practice what we have. So, that if you are next to somebody, if you are a Kenyan, and you are next to somebody who is not a Kenyan, please shake their hands.

[00:18:17]Please keep your hands up so that we know where where You must leave shake You cannot leave Kenya without shaking at least one person's hand.

[00:18:26]And there is a lonely one right at the back there. Please, please, somebody walk there and shake their hands.

[00:18:32]Because there is a there is a there is a a guest.

[00:18:35]He must be from South America from the way he looks to me, but then again, [laughter] you never know.

[00:18:41]So, distinguished guest and fellow Kenyans, uh first and foremost, let me take this opportunity to thank His Excellency, the Deputy President, for finding time to come here.

[00:18:53]We spoke yesterday.

[00:18:55]We agreed we are going to come to meet here at 9:00.

[00:18:58]But, His Excellency was so passionate about the whole thing about sugar that he actually got here before me. So, so, Your Excellency, I want to particularly thank you and to really appreciate your time. I know the kind of schedule that you run and therefore when you are here and you have come to welcome our delegates as well as meet the Kenyans who are here, we are particularly grateful and I want you to know that we do not take it for granted.

[00:19:26]Before I say one or two things, let me also recognize one or two colleagues who are here. Since they are foreigners here, I want to show them how our members of parliament look like. You might think that they look different.

[00:19:38]So, I want to first introduce John Bwire who is a member of parliament for Taita Taveta.

[00:19:46]>> [applause] >> That gentleman is an elected person. So, those of you in the sugar sector who carry out elections, this one is another one who is elected.

[00:19:54]Um I also want to introduce Ali Letipila.

[00:20:00]Ali, please stand up from Samburu.

[00:20:04]From the area of Samburu North. Then I also want to introduce Cecilia Ndeti.

[00:20:11]Uh women's rep from Turkana.

[00:20:14]From Turkana.

[00:20:15]Uh karibuni sana. Please feel welcome.

[00:20:18]So, in Kenya, we have a saying that and I don't know how many of you know it so far because it's very small it's very easy to remember. It's called Hakuna Matata.

[00:20:29]I don't know whether you know that that phrase. Hakuna Yeah, so if you don't remember anything else from Kenya, please remember two things. The first one is Jambo.

[00:20:41]Jambo. You all know Jambo.

[00:20:43]Uh this is not a lesson in sugar, it's a lesson in language.

[00:20:47]>> [snorts] >> Jambo and the second one is Hakuna Matata. Hakuna Matata simply means that you can have all the fun you want in Kenya and there are no big issues. We we are we are we are not a troublesome people. We are a happy we are happy people and when I look around the room, I see also delegates from happy nations.

[00:21:09]So, let me just say that agriculture in Kenya, and I will specifically want to welcome you as a CS for agriculture where the sugar sector lies. We are particularly delighted that you chose this country to be the the venue for this 68th sugar seminar, and I want to particularly thank the management and authorities and the committee of the council for choosing Kenya. We we want you to know that we are grateful.

[00:21:41]We feel honored that you chose our our country to be. And particularly you chose Diani, which is one of our beautiful areas, and I cannot say anything else except that because the governor is here.

[00:21:55]You can imagine what you do if I didn't say that it was beautiful.

[00:21:59]So, governor, I I want you to know that we are also happy that you welcomed us to to your county, and we are delighted to be here in Diani.

[00:22:08]I think I need not repeat what has been mentioned here about the importance of the sugar sector in our nation and the 6 million people who whose livelihoods depend directly on the sugar sector. But I also want to say that the cooperation between the county government and the national government, which is a structure of management of agriculture in Kenya, has been particularly fruitful in the last 2 years or so.

[00:22:36]We have discovered, and I'm sure there are many models here from various countries with different models on how to manage the sugar sector. And we are here, I believe, as part of the conference to also learn from each other what the best practice is. In Kenya, for example, we discovered that the private sector is a much stronger player, a much more efficient player in the sugar sector than the government sector.

[00:23:05]So, Hallelujah to those who have the government sectors that are managing the sugar belt well. But in this country, our experience is that the private sector has been very very efficient and I want to thank the private sector players in Kenya and those both those from Kenya and those from outside the country who have invested in our nation and have benefits from the investments in the sugar sector. And to say to the international community who are represented here today that we continue to seek for other investors in the sugar sector. So, that if you are here and you are fishing for investments in the sugar sector, please do not go away. There are investment opportunities here including the county in which you are. So, if you want to invest in sugar and live nicely on the beach even as you work, this is a nice place for you to to to think about investments. So, we are in our model of of management of sugar, we have chosen to lease those government owned factories to the private sector and we have seen immediate benefits. In the last 12 months only, we have seen the private sector change the plight of our farmers to beneficiaries and people who are liquid and can therefore participate in the larger economy that we run in our nation.

[00:24:35]We have also focused completely on the farmer.

[00:24:40]The farmer is the most important person in the sugar sector.

[00:24:44]And I say this without any fear of contradiction.

[00:24:48]These are the people that the governor was alluding to. These are the people who wake up in the morning.

[00:24:53]From the farmer, we have got the sugarcane cutters. People who are very efficient workers who cut a sugar cane and sometimes there are snakes in those places as well. I know that it is the same in your countries as well, but they are sugar cane cutters whether mechanized or not mechanized. We know that there are workers who who are in those sugar sectors, but there is a tendency for us globally as a global community to focus so much on the sweetness of sugar, on the trade of sugar, on how to the commodity of sugar that we forget that without those people, if we do not as a global community, if we do not address the plight of the farmer, the plight of the sugar cane sugar cane cutters and other sugar cane workers, if we do not focus and think about those people, then our industry can be threatened not from outside, but from within.

[00:25:52]I think the second factor that I want to highlight to your Excellency has to do with the byproducts of sugar and to say that in our nation, and this is something we want to learn from the best in the industry, in our nation, the sugar sector is focused purely on table sugar, so to speak.

[00:26:12]But there are many many byproducts and especially as we face the Middle East and here of now a very famous place called the street of Hamous, we now begin to think about ethanol very seriously and the play and the place that ethanol can play in terms of fueling the economies and the industries that that we run and the motor sector. So, for us, we would like to invite those of you who are here to work with us in cogeneration, in ethanol production, so that even as we think about the table, we also think about other activities.

[00:26:50]And I'm aware that in some countries represented here, sugar is a byproduct of the activities that happen in the sugar sector. This is information that hopefully we will share in the next 2 days, in the next 3 days that we are here. Let us share this information together because when everybody is efficient in the world of sugar, when everybody is doing the best that they can, then the world is that better off than it is when some are inefficient and some are efficient. So, your Excellency, guests who are here today, I think today is the day for His Excellency to tell us and to tell you what he would like to do. On my part, what I would like to do as a final gesture to you is to simply say to you that you are most most welcome.

[00:27:46]I hope that before you leave this country, you'll not just have spoken about sugar.

[00:27:51]There are very many other things that happen in this country, and you just need to walk around the beach and you'll see them.

[00:27:58]You just need to visit in the evenings and you see the the the the the nightlife that we can offer you, even for good Christians.

[00:28:08]>> [laughter] >> There is a place for everybody in our in our nation. So, we would like you to take this opportunity to see Kenya and hope that you will have a fantastic time. We hope that your memories of this nation will not just be about the beautiful conference that we attended in Diani, but also the beautiful environment and the beautiful people that you met. Climate change is with us.

[00:28:37]We will see that as you walk around, and climate change is affecting our sugar sector, but these are issues that we all face everywhere in the world. For now, karibuni Kenya.

[00:28:49]Mufa Mufa Muji enjoy Kenya. Na hakuna matata.

[00:28:56]On this On that note, Your Excellency, may I take this opportunity to welcome you to speak to the distinguished guests. If you would just stand up to and so that we can introduce His Excellency to come and make a speech.

[00:29:11]>> [applause] [clears throat] >> Thank you. Please be seated.

[00:29:25]>> [clears throat] >> Jambo.

[00:29:37]I am honored to join you today as we officially open the 68th seminar of the International Sugar Organization, an event of great significance hosted for the very first time in Kenya. And I want to join our agriculture minister, Mutahi Kagwe, in thanking the ISO for choosing Kenya as a venue for this seminar.

[00:30:13]To our guests again, as the minister and the governors already said, we extend a very warm welcome to magical Kenya.

[00:30:23]Karibu sana.

[00:30:24]And feel free to explore the rich magical heritage our country offers.

[00:30:31]To the International Sugar Organization, the government and the people of Kenya appreciate that you honored us to host this conference.

[00:30:42]And we believe we will meet your expectations.

[00:30:46]We hope so.

[00:30:49]Ladies and gentlemen, sugar is far more than a commodity.

[00:30:54]It is a covenant between a nation and its people as it is consumed in almost if not every home in our nations.

[00:31:05]Sugar is an important ingredient to most of our foodstuff.

[00:31:11]It is utilized in immense volumes daily in the baking of pastries, brewing of beverages, sweetening our lives, and providing the much-needed energy.

[00:31:23]Every actor of sugarcane that sways in the breeze anywhere in the world represents a family's livelihood.

[00:31:34]Every mill that turns represents employment.

[00:31:40]Every ton of sugar that reaches the market represents labor, hope, and investment of thousands of men and women who rise before dawn to tend their farms.

[00:31:51]This is the deeper meaning of what we do when we gather in forums such as this one.

[00:31:59]We are not just uh discussing a crop or a market.

[00:32:05]We are discussing the dignity of farming communities, the resilience of developing economies, and the future of millions of people across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere in the world.

[00:32:21]Ladies and gentlemen, here in Kenya, the sugar sector has suffered several challenges in the past.

[00:32:32]And I'm sure the same is the case in your own countries, at least some of your countries.

[00:32:43]The industry was weighed down by inefficiency, institutional lethargy, high production costs, and a regulatory environment that did not inspire confidence.

[00:32:55]Farmers were underpaid, mills were under performing, investors were understandably cautious.

[00:33:06]The government of Kenya in this administration of William Ruto, President of Kenya, made a deliberate choice to transform this subsector in several ways.

[00:33:24]One, restructuring the Sugar Board to make it leaner, more transparent, and more effective.

[00:33:31]Two, engaging with millers on clear performance standards. Three, bringing in the private sector to provide investments to run our sugar mills as the Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Kenya has just said.

[00:33:50]We have also in this administration initiated the revival of state-owned factories through leasing these factories to the private sector, which has attracted quite some serious private investments.

[00:34:10]We have worked to bring discipline and predictability to sugarcane pricing, so that farmers can plan and invest in their farms with greater certainty.

[00:34:19]I am proud to report to you, delegates, that these efforts are beginning to bear fruit.

[00:34:26]Farmers are gradually gaining confidence in sugarcane farming.

[00:34:31]Investment interest is growing from our private sector, output is improving.

[00:34:39]The planted acreage is increasing.

[00:34:45]And our national production is steadily on an upward trajectory.

[00:34:50]But we are under no illusion. There is still much work ahead, and we are committed to seeing it through.

[00:34:58]Distinguished delegates, as we look to the future of this industry, I would like to underscore that the model of producing raw sugar alone is no longer sufficient for all of us.

[00:35:12]The world is changing, energy systems are transforming, consumer preferences are shifting.

[00:35:19]Climate pressures are intensifying, and the global movement towards sustainable circular economies is no longer a distant ambition.

[00:35:28]It is an accelerating reality.

[00:35:32]The sugar industry of tomorrow must be integrated and diversified. One that produces sugar, yes, sugar, but also ethanol, sustainable aviation fuel, renewable energy, bio-based chemicals, and other high-value industrial outputs. One where nothing is wasted and everything has value.

[00:35:56]In Kenya, we are already beginning to move in this direction.

[00:36:02]We are encouraging cogeneration projects that allow sugar factories to generate and sell electricity.

[00:36:08]We are exploring the expansion of ethanol production as a blending component for cleaner transport fuels, and we are investing in the research and development necessary to make our industry more competitive and more sustainable over the long term. Enough in Africa or across Africa, we have vast underutilized sugarcane potential.

[00:36:36]The continent has the land, the climate, the labor, and increasingly the ambition. What we need and what events like this help to catalyze is the knowledge, the partnerships, and the investment to unlock that potential.

[00:36:56]Africa has been described as the youngest continent on Earth.

[00:37:00]Our greatest asset is our people, and specifically our young people.

[00:37:05]But we will not attract young Africans into agriculture with sentiment alone.

[00:37:12]Young people are pragmatic. They follow opportunity.

[00:37:16]They go where innovation leads and where enterprise thrives.

[00:37:21]Our task as governments and industry leaders and as investors is to transform agriculture into the kind of sector that ambitious young people want to be part of.

[00:37:34]That means embracing digital tools and precision farming, creating agribusiness ecosystems that generate real wealth, and building the infrastructure, the logistics, and the financing systems that allow agricultural enterprise to flourish at scale.

[00:37:57]The sugar industry properly transformed can be a powerful vehicle for exactly this kind of economic inclusion for African youth.

[00:38:07]Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot talk about the future of agriculture and industry without confronting the realities of climate change.

[00:38:14]Across Kenya and the broader region, we are witnessing the effects of our changing climate in real time.

[00:38:23]Rain patterns and volumes are often inconsistent while droughts and floods are becoming more frequent.

[00:38:30]This unpredictable weather pattern is not a future challenge. It is a present reality demanding urgent response.

[00:38:39]Climate adaptation must therefore be embedded at every level in the varieties of crops we grow, in the water management systems we employ, in the farming practices we deploy, and in the resilience of the supply chains and manufacturing processes we build.

[00:38:58]The sugar sector can be part of the climate solution. Biofuels, renewable energy from bagasse, and circular bioeconomy models put the sugar industry in a unique position to contribute meaningfully to the global transition away from fossil fuels.

[00:39:21]No conversation about the future of agriculture is complete without an honest discussion about international trade.

[00:39:31]The global sugar market remains one of the most distorted in agricultural trade. Production subsidies, export support, and import barriers in various parts of the world create conditions that are deeply unfair to developing country producers who simply want to compete on the merits of their products.

[00:39:53]Kenya stands firmly in support of a rule-based, transparent, and equitable international trading system for agricultural commodity commodities.

[00:40:05]We believe that a genuinely free and fair trade is in the long-term interest of producers and consumers alike. I call on all partners, and particularly those from major producing and consuming nations to work in good faith towards trade arrangements that give developing country industries the space to grow, to invest, and to compete on a level playing field.

[00:40:33]The International Sugar Organization has a vital role to play in this regard and we commend its continued commitment to dialogue, research, and advocacy on behalf of the global industry.

[00:40:48]Distinguished delegates, as you engage in this conference, I encourage you to write the future of the sugar industry boldly, wisely, and collectively to inspire growth, sustain hope, and ignite passion from our citizens.

[00:41:05]On behalf of President William Ruto, the government and the people of Kenya, I wish you exceptionally productive deliberations.

[00:41:17]May your time here in Diani be both fruitful and memorable.

[00:41:21]And on that note, I bring you greetings from the leader of our country, President William Ruto.

[00:41:29]He sends his greetings and wishes you well.

[00:41:34]And because my task was to officially open the conference, I have already discharged my mandate and with those many remarks, it is now my honor, my privilege to formally declare the 68th International Sugar Organization Seminar officially open. Asanteni sana.

[00:41:58]Thank you very much.

[00:41:59]Merci beaucoup.

[00:42:02]Obrigado. Thank you very much. God bless you.

[00:42:05]>> [applause] >> Thank you, Your Excellency. On behalf of the entire World Sugar family, I'd like to gift you with the ISO sugar