Unemployment and poverty are some of the major challenges facing people with disabilities in Kenya. It is estimated that people with disabilities make up less than 2% of the total Kenyan workforce.

To help address this imbalance, we've partnered with Sightsavers, an international NGO promoting the rights of people with disabilities and seeking to build a framework to ensure people with disabilities can participate equally in society. Our first joint project was to bring smallholder farmers with disabilities into our supply chain.

It started in March 2020 when our Kenyan business, Kenya Breweries, recruited 39 farmers with disabilities in Homabay County, western Kenya to plant white sorghum, a vital ingredient for producing our 'Senator Keg' beer. By partnering with Sightsavers we had access to their invaluable expertise and network throughout the programme, including ensuring our inclusive recruitment process complied with applicable laws, and mobility assistance for the farmers.

We're now into year two of the partnership and in 2021, 71 farmers with disabilities took part - almost double the previous year's participants. Over two tonnes of sorghum for use in production was delivered and the harvests now form part of the 80% of raw materials we source locally in our African markets.

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Diageo plc published this content on 03 December 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 03 December 2021 10:31:06 UTC.