Creation Job and Enterpreneurship

Kitui County has experienced a staggering economic decline in the last decade.  Significant deterioration in the business climate and cumulative decline in GDP. Despite a return to positive economic growth, the rural economy remains depressed through a combination of limited agricultural financing, input/output market constraints and diminished service industries. Lack of liquidity and high perception of risk are critical barriers to the economically active poor’s ability to access finance that would help them to start or grow their businesses and better cope with shocks. Measures of empowerment, women do badly in the area. Significant barriers to accessing affordable finance, levels of gender based violence are high and are disproportionately affected by HIV.  intervention will contribute to and help to consolidate emerging donor efforts to revitalise the agricultural sector and to catalyse private sector innovation in the area, drawing a proven track record of support to business challenge funds and microfinance

Support the return of growth in area which primarily benefits the poor, particularly women, in terms of more jobs, higher incomes and a larger role in the economy. It will boost the recovery of the economy, by creating employment and raising incomes, particularly in rural areas where most poor Kitui  live. Contribute to women’s empowerment by enabling access to affordable finance and helping to prevent gender based violence. through: Competitive funding of medium and large commercial agri-business Improved access and affordability of capital through the recapitalisation of micro finance institutions (MFIs) and provision of soft loans through existing financial institutions to revitalise agricultural value chains; and Collectives of women organised for microfinance to promote women’s empowerment, and prevent intimate partner violence, drawing on evidenced based recommendations

Higher incomes and more jobs for poor people living in Kitui County, and wider strategic impacts on the way that agri-business operate in relation to the poor in Kitui County. 3,500 job opportunities created, $8m revenue generated for small farmers.$16m generated by innovative medium sized businesses. 150,000 economically active poor people accessing loans, 70% or whom are women. Policy and institutional environment that encourages provision of financial services to poor people. A % reduction in reported intimate partner violence and HIV prevalence A recent CDTF, Kitui County economic appraisal of the business challenge funds and the apex facility showed the benefits outweigh the costs, and for every $1 invested on average $11 will be recouped.

The    direct    beneficiaries   include    high    growth    potential    agribusiness entrepreneurs and small businesses. The indirect beneficiaries are smallholder farmers that supply raw materials to enterprises  and  tangential  service  providers,  such  as  logistical  support providers and packaging services, who will benefit from the increased demand for their services. Associated beneficiaries include Project for Agriculture Commercialization and Trade and other agencies supporting the commercialization of agriculture, whose clients involved in agro-processing will receive additional support from the CIDI.

Growing Food, Products and Businesses, there are a number of critical success factors for an intervention of this kind: helping clients manage risk; understanding the details of the value chain; maintaining a broader goal of demonstrating innovative business propositions so as to stimulate broader sector take-up;  adapting the focus and business model of the incubator;  proactively identifying and promoting higher value market opportunities; and designing and operating the business incubator in line with good practice, including ensuring a strong selection process that identifies and cultivates innovative, growth-oriented entrepreneurs,  and  developing  strong  partnerships  with  the  public  and  private sector.

KRIP, rural innovation project, implemented elements that were innovative for its context, but existing in other regions. First, the SOLVE grant will be counted on the contribution of local public agents like district officers in helping implement the project. This increased the interaction between the communities and their local authorities. According to the PCR, for the first time the Government partnered with an NGO and gave it the full implementation responsibility, but there were no other sources than the project's documents that allowed to cross-check this information. Also, at design, the project's second component planned for banks to disburse and monitor funds, which in turn would have reduced CIDI's workload. This will be mentioned throughout this report, not achieved though. The PCR also mentioned innovative practices in terms of production and marketing approaches, but no systematic data will be provided on the topic. Facilitating the participation of women and youth in traditionally exclusive fora was an innovation introduced by the project.

PDR and PCR mentioned that an innovative element was the scale of how beneficiaries were involved through participatory appraisal approach and techniques, this was the output of a scale-up process of CIDI, is innovative. The linkage of the two first components by focusing on income generating activities and supporting existing businesses, are seen as innovative element. The results in terms of innovation are substantial, as it is expected given that the project's name is Kitui Rural Innovation Project.

Technology: Presence of suitable technology for post-harvesting and processing. Technologies used for processing of agro-food or medicinal herbs and essential oils are often too small scale to generate a availability success for commercial returns. Appropriate technologies for simple post harvesting technologies, such as grading and packaging, are lacking. There is a dearth of companies using good production technologies and inadequate transfer of knowledge/skills for use of available technologies.

To address the preferences of agribusinesses at different stages of development, the AII should offer a number of payment options, including payment at full cost at the time, a small percentage of equity, or a royalty levied on the increase in their sales for a period. The proposed model seeks to achieve better than 63 percent financial sustainability within six years, which is detailed in Section 8 of the full report. The remainder of the funds would then need to be secured from public or corporate donors.

Overall, TRIP was relevant in terms of the alignment to the government's and CIDI's policy and its design and the adaptation thereof. The relative broad targeting strategy corresponded with the lack of existing data on characteristics of rural population. The project achieved its first objective but the achievement of the second component was lower. There were some delays in the implementation of the project. Yet, costs related to project management and costs per beneficiaries could be explained by the remoteness of Kitui communities. As for the impact on rural poverty, the biggest effects were found for the development of social capital and empowerment, and institutions and policies. The sustainability of servants. Sustainability of infrastructure was ensured through the compliance of ASAL category 5 safety requirements. The provision of continuous foreign aid will be important to consolidate some of the project's benefits. KRIP successfully scaled up the community development process approach of the previous CDTF grant. Some elements were innovative, and they worked well enough for the project to be scaled up on a national level. Moreover, the project took natural resources management and the adaptation to climate change into consideration, although the extent thereof could not be assessed. Further results of the project on an impact level and for other criteria could not be fully ascertained due to lack of data. The project's achievement is rated as moderately satisfactory (4), concurring with the PCR.

With the objective of reducing poverty through more jobs and higher incomes, CIDI will request for $ 1.7 million funding from SOLVE to a programme which combines support to rural enterprises through business SOLVE funding, for purchases of machinery and Expansion of Agro-fruit processing plant to agricultural value chain actors and funding to a wholesale facility to recapitalise the microfinance sector in Kitui County in Lower Eastern.

Expected output of the SOLVE funding targeting established businesses is a multi-donor mechanism in place to identify, select, fund, support and monitor projects which have a high development impact in terms of increased incomes and job creation for poor people living in rural areas, and to ensure they achieve improvements in market systems in ways that benefit the poor. Expected output of the SOLVE Funding providing funding and start up services is a mechanism to competitively support rural agribusiness with innovative ideas for employment creation and income generation, and the provision of tailored technical assistance to the winners.

Soft loans to agricultural value chain actors should facilitate access to credit for intermediaries in the agricultural and food value chain and higher returns to actors at each level of the value chain

Support to the wholesale facility will help to recapitalise microfinance institutions, increase access to credit for investment in productive activities and the establishment of a more benign microfinance regulatory environment. Another key output will be to improve MFI’s women clients’ understanding of HIV/AIDS and gender mainstreaming issues.

Target group. At appraisal, the target group was the 23 per cent of extreme poor and poor households living below the poverty line. It included 288,865 people of around 60,800 households in the whole country, as poverty was evenly distributed. The project would benefit 60 rural communities both in the Arid and semi arid area. Beneficiary communities would include 8 Sub-county districts in the ' Arid and semi arid area' (which are expected benefited from SOLVE), and 24 new Sub-county district from the ' Arid and semi arid area'. A Poverty and Vulnerability ranking through key informants at district level would be applied in two districts, Kibwezi East Sub-County District and Wards. The targeting approach would make use of geographic, direct and self-targeting. Based on satisfactory performance, at mid-term review the Kitui Multi Processors Limited decided to add 2 additional Sub-County districts, and eventually, by completion 8 new Sob-County Districts to be added, reaching a total number of 8 Sub-County districts. At onset, the project will focus particularly on youth and women (particularly women-headed households) through the inclusion of interest groups in the formulation of CDP, and through the membership of concerned CIDI in the Project Review and Appraisal Committee

We expect these outputs to result in the following outcomes: rehabilitation and re-generation of agri-business and rural finance market systems in ways that benefit, in particular, the rural poorsupport to medium sized agri-business with innovative ideas, to create opportunities and raise the incomes of the rural poor. improved functioning of agro-input and output value chains for agricultural recovery and improved food security; and expanded access to financial services for the economically active poor, especially women, through capitalisation of MFIs, and a reduction in GBV among women clients of those MFIs.In turn we expect these outcomes to result in poor people, especially women, benefitting from economic growth in the form of higher incomes and more jobs. The section below sets out the evidence linking outputs to outcomes, which shows that the evidence around option 1-4 is medium.  Option 5, the blend option, offers the opportunity to harness the positive development impact of each of the options. These are a complementary set of  offer a variety of parallel options to create jobs and raise incomes for the poor in Lower Eastern. The blend option recognises that the rejuvenation of Lower Eastern’s rural economy requires a multi-faceted approach in view of the complementary needs

Technology: Absence of suitable technology for post-harvesting and processing. Technologies used for processing of agro-food or medicinal herbs and essential oils are often too small scale to generate a critical mass for commercial returns. Appropriate technologies for simple post harvesting technologies, such as grading and packaging, are lacking.

Market access: Limited access to markets, most often with no direct contact with end users of the produce. Agriculture commodities, medicinal herbs, and essential oils are sold through traders located at trading centers. Production volume: Economies of scale are inadequate to produce the volumes of production and processing to access larger markets. Infrastructure Lack of infrastructure such as road networks and access to power due to scattered settlements. Communication: Communication is vital for timely transaction of commodities.Poor communication systems, lack of information, and communication technology availability have limited growth potential of the agriculture, herbs, and medicinal plants sectors.Research and development: The agriculture sector has suffered, to some extent, because of the insufficient research and development initiatives. Political instability: Political instability has created an unstable macro-economy. Subsistence Agriculture: Agriculture in Kitui County governments is predominant at the subsistence level. Commercialization is a relatively new phenomenon in this sector.Lab testing and quality certification:uitable facilities are not always available or of adequate standard in Kitui County governments, in which case companies have to go to external international agencies,  for instance, organic certification, certification for nutritional features, or certification for testing extracted essential oils as required by buyers.

This programme is targeting the rural sector for its pro-poor growth potential, the fact that the incidence of poverty in Kitui County is highest in rural areas, where 70% of the population live, and because it is here where government and market failure is greatest, making it even less attractive for private investment.Developing the rural economy is a key building block to sustainable poverty reduction; agriculture is the dominant economic activity in the rural areas.

The empirical relationship between agriculture and poverty reduction is well established. For example, in East Africa, agricultural growth has been found to be four times more effective in increasing the incomes of the extreme poor than growth originating in other sectors.  Studies have emphasised the ‘multiplier’ effects of growth in agricultural incomes, with estimated income growth multipliers of between 1.5 and 3 (i.e., an increment of 1 in farm income generates an increment of 1.5 - 3 in household income) across a number of African countries. This is a higher multiplier than in any other sector.

There is a wealth of evidence that increasing agricultural productivity increases pro-poor growth. It contributes to:improving the incomes of the poor through providing greater opportunities to improve livelihoods on farm and to sell labour; increasing the productivity of the economy. Studies show that, across developing countries, more than half the productivity gains have come from agriculture; spurring economic transformation by providing cheaper raw materials for industry and services; increasing competitiveness by reducing the cost of food and hence labour.

The following are Team members:Dr Julius M Mutiso,Rose K Mwanga,Jane K Munywoki,Justus M Sune,Dr Muusya Mwanzi,Hellen mutambu

We have team of five permanent Employees and 15  workers on casual bases.

Food Technologist,The Administrator,Technician supervisor,Human Resources, Financial and Administrative Officer,Messenger,2-Drivers,2 Security officers

15 Factory workers

We been funded by DANIDA/EU from 2009 -20016.Other partners are Line Ministry Associates;Government: MOI / DCSI / BIP: Policy and process support in implementation and operation ofCIDI Representation at strategic advisory committee. Linking incubatees to CIDI for further growth orientation of BIP, agribusiness clients. Experience sharing and facilitating to CIDI client  Pre-incubating services (DCSI-BIP), KBS : Collaboration:      Certification and quality assurance. Lab sharing and sourcing of technical mentoring. Knowledge creation and sharing. Technology research, development, and demonstration.  Utilization of Knowledge Park at Godavari as needed by CIDI  client.      Establishment and operation of North Eastern Satellite of CIDI (CAA): South Eastern Kenya, University:  Source of innovative entrepreneurs, mentors, and technology experts. Practical training options on entrepreneurship, Pre-incubation and business-focused research,  Laboratory, research, and development access  Agribusiness Champions, Investors, and Successful Entrepreneurs(Pool of Champions): Support to run CIDI  as business entities. Sending representatives to CIDI  board. Peer review of champions representing in Board of KMPL. Sourcing of industry and business mentors

The highest impact and likelihood of sustainability of the CIDI can be achieved by targeting enterprises that demonstrate some understanding of market demand, target the local and regional markets, and have access to a minimum level of equipment. The enterprises, thus, have a foundation that positions them for growth into new markets or products. A detailed selection process will need to be prepared in order to select the enterprises. While this will be the mandate of the management team of CIDI  during the start-up phase, a number of points are pertinent: Enterprises need to have a growth focus. Entrepreneurs need to demonstrate strong entrepreneurial  traits that can be assessed through psychological testing. Enterprises  have  a  track  record  indicating  success  and  will  demonstrate competitive advantages in some ways.

The  market  potential  of  enterprises  will  need  to  be  good  to  allow  growth activities. The enterprise should be fundable either via direct commercial loan, or through a seed fund raised to support selected enterprises or with their own resources. Selection  will  follow  a  process  of  application,  assessment,  review,  and  capacity building. Finally, a selection panel will assess the merits of each enterprise. This panel will include representation from a financial institution, as well as a professional with sufficient market knowledge in the specific product market to assess the product’s market potential. Successful enterprises will be required to formally and legally commit to the conditions of service, including payment regimes and conditions as set out by the CIDI.

Several factors fostered the project's sustainability, but others clearly undermined it, making KRIP's second phase highly needed. Firstly, KRIP strengthened capacities of both communities and local public agents. They had a higher probability of staying in the project area than project staff who would leave after project completion.The implementing CIDI continued its work after CDTF's previous regional grant, proved its capabilities and thus became a strong dialogue partner of the Government. The government's commitment led to the institutionalization of CDPs, to the extent that since KRIP, future interventions from external donor funding would only be accepted through these plans. Also, the existing partnerships with actors from the private sector (among others, with the Kitui County District Business Enterprise Centre, Kabati Trading, Kalundu Mwingi, etc.) continue after project completion. As for beneficiaries, their ownership of the project was strong according to the PCR. The project's sustainability was also fostered by the fact that the communities already had deliberation fora, but which were exclusive of certain groups of people. With the project, voices of vulnerable groups like women and youth were included in these fora. Finally, CDPs were the main tool for interacting with authorities, which foster their continuity.

We requesting  for financial support so that we may be able to purchase machinery and equipment Specifically (Aseptic filling machine for fruit juice processing).

We will be able to produce quality product,competitive the other products in the market world.

Being a joint Venture, SOLVE will be required to bring to the table an uptake Value terms of 30 % equivalent to equity contribution of the total Loan.. Secondly SOLVE will send a representative Hands-on support, an expert in the Business Management

Being a joint Venture, SOLVE will be required to bring to the table an uptake Value terms of 30 % equivalent to equity contribution of the total Loan.. Secondly SOLVE will send a representative Hands-on support, an expert in the Business Management

Key areas of focus and experience: Kitui Multi Processors Limited has considerable experience in various development disciplines. The key areas of focus include: Agriculture and Food Security, Capacity Development for Community-Led Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Environment Management and Climate Change, Human and Social Development, Vulnerability Analysis and Social Protection and Infrastructure