Steering the flower umbrella body towards creating a lasting Kenya brand that competes as a first class product across the world; maintain the current markets, and make noticeable inroads into selected emerging markets.

Briefly discuss Mr. Clement Tulezi (Background and Professional life to your current position)
My professional background involves a large amount time as a communication and marketing expert, with experience spanning over 23 years in the main stream media, advertising, gender, social welfare, governance, entrepreneurship and conflict resolutions. I also have masters in project Management and I am a certified international mediator. I have worked in a number of trade associations, nonprofit making institutions and later the United Nations, where I was plucked into the flower industry.

Within those roles, I learned a lot about strategic thinking and the value of establishing a very clear focus and working with teams to achieve unique and timely corporate results. It entails everybody essentially rowing in the same direction and appropriately applying the resources within the organisation to meet the shared goal.

How would you describe your time as CEO Kenya Flower Council? Are you passionate about what you do?
I am two months old but it has been rewarding so far. I have met key partners and created a close working relationship with them. My staff and the KFC Board of Directors have been very supportive. I am passionate about the industry and I am open with everyone associated with it. I am therefore optimistic of succeeding. But let me hasten to add that as CEO, I need to be broad-minded. For instance, I have to figure out what the keys are to marketing effectively Kenyan flowers, looking at the end-to-end supply chain from production to the market, and determining how KFC secretariat is actually following up with members support. My role running KFC secretariat is more about helping to find macrosolutions with other players that influence the whole flower industry.

Other than KFC have you worked in any other agriculture related field before? With so many great organizations to work with why KFC?
Prior to this appointment, I have worked in other agricultural value chains in Kenya. My focus has been how to utilize information systems to impact to put money in the hands of small-scale growers. This background has given me familiarity with the agricultural sector and the basic operations of the flower industry, and cross-learning, which is much-needed in this industry. I have kept contact with the Kenya Flower Council since 2012. So, when an opportunity arose and I took it. I considered the how I could utilize the knowledge I have gathered all the years in putting our fantastic product on every table or shelve globally. I saw a huge opportunity to drive us forward and see where we could go in terms of expansion of the industry.

What are some of the key attributes you need in order to undertake your role?
The ability to create conversations across industry players, from producers, host communities, regulators and service providers to markets for the benefit of our members is essential, as well as a good knowledge of global markets and strong negotiation skills. I engage and inspire new entrants, especially small-scale producers. Floriculture, also requires a deep respect for diversity cultural appreciation.

What is your vision for the flower sector? What are your top priorities? Can you tell me about something specific that you dream for the sector that you represent?
At a certain point, every business faces a tactical fork in the road: should it try to be all things to all people and spread the risk across multiple revenue streams? Or should it look to establish a foothold by dominating a niche? The right option is definitely the latter. My priority is steering the flower umbrella body towards creating a lasting Kenya brand that competes as a first class product across the world; maintain the current markets, and make noticeable inroads into selected emerging markets. My dream is to see the Kenyan flower in over 100 countries globally. Every consumer must ask his retailer, do you have Kenyan flowers? Every visitor on arrival into the country must appreciate Kenya as the country of the sort-after flowers.

This seems to be a hard task for you to achieve.
You don’t often get the opportunity to take on a role like this, but I could see that working with key industry players it’s possible and that’s what made it an appealing move. I want to bring everybody who holds a stake on board. Our working relationship with the national government should be more of a partner than merely regulator. We also need support from the national government in bilateral trade agreements in the emerging markets, and work closely with our missions abroad to market Kenya as a major cut-flower producer. We need to strengthen linkages across the value chain, including those involved in logistics and freight to see themselves as part of the industry. Our task as KFC is to help connect these important players for growth of the industry. We have to work closely to enhance the image of Kenya’s flowers in potential markets. There is an opportunity to capture customers who are looking for something a little different from what our competitors offer. We need to bring a degree of quality you see other leading exporters, with the service and personal touch. Nonetheless, we remain confident about the future of the industry.

Briefly discuss the KFC team? How would you inspire them into full production?
It is a great team. My task is to get the most out of the team. It will be my duty to hone one or a few main areas in which they excel and function at the optimum. However, if one loves what he or she does, then motivation will always come from within. I think we’re wrong to think of work–life balance as a set of scales with life on one side and work on the other. It’s much more permeable. The more that you like what you do, the more you are able to find ways of getting your non-work and work life into a useful balance.

I believe in the ‘six E’s’ which is crucial to the success of staff. The first five are pretty self-explanatory: expectations, empowerment, empathy, equal opportunity and excitement. The last one, however – epic failures – is pretty much counterintuitive. Except it’s not. I think experiencing epic failures is important to future success. As long as you’re honest with yourself, you can really learn from them. I have failed many times and learned a lot from the experience to make me a better person.

We have had interceptions of some flowers from Kenya. What is the current status? What measures have you taken as KFC to tackle the issue of interception?
Our growers are technically great and with the support of KEPHIS (Kenya Plant health Inspectorate Service), they have often identified these challenges and handle them appropriately. KEPHIS has also kept the growers informed on market requirements to bring cases of inception to as low as possible. The FCM is currently a threat. KFC has worked closely with all the relevant bodies to find a common solution. We have also been able to bring grower to grower forums where they discuss some of this issue and so far it has paid dividends. This is because a ban will affect the country export but not merely a particular farm.

Where do you think the most significant growth will occur in the flower sector in the next few years? What new competition are you expecting then?
What we’re looking at is an opportunity to diversify our markets to emerging markets such as the American, Far East, and Eastern Europe among others and try to complement products that are already in those markets from other major exporters in Europe and South America.

We also expect growth in technology to bring productivity low hence compete favorably with other producers. Additionally, we expect growth in small scale growers.

What’s the biggest challenge YOU feel the Kenyan flower sector faces, and how do you inspire your members to meet it head on?
Flower business is extremely dynamic. The industry must cope with the ever changing market demands. This is very challenging. A key part of our focus is keep up with the ever changing requirements of the markets.

Taxation and the cost of inputs are some of the biggest threats to flower industry, what are you doing to protect both growers and your revenue.
My simple clarion call is if you cannot subsidise us, then support us in service provision. The challenge is how to cope with the ever increasing cost of doing business in a sustainable way. Doing business in at the county level has become more and more expensive especially since the promulgation of the new constitution. Most growers are facing almost double taxation from the two government levels. There is need to set some guidelines on who should do what. This has led to high production costs which are increasing all the time. This is despite the fact that some of our competitors are getting government subsidies. We need to continue engaging the government at all levels as partners on matters of creating an enabling environment to spur business, such as reliable energy source, infrastructure, management of water resources etc.

As a professional in your own right, what advice can you give to growers to ensure they keep their market?
Instead of basking in the glow of the current achievement, I think we need to have set new targets. We’ve to constantly think about the consumer and his or her unique preferences. Meeting this objective for the industry will require some serious hard work and even deeper customer engagement. We need to keep thinking about who else is going to come to the market and how we can open up more markets. It’s an opportunity to broaden our thinking even further.

The flower sector has come of age can you enumerate any CSR program they may be running? Are you sponsoring any activities as KFC?
While most companies promote their corporate social responsibility initiatives, the flower sector approach is to integrate values of social responsibility into everything they do, rather than tacking standalone projects. Many growers partner in building schools, roads, environmental sustenance etc. We are very focused on being custodians of the environments we have invested and committed to working collaboratively with local communities to ensure there are long-term benefits within the locality.

What is your personal work ethic, and how does this affect the council culture?
I believe I need to know enough of everything. These knowledge is always handy. I also respect deadlines. As an organisation, we must have a corporate strategy that all staff must see their contribution in accomplishing. This makes it easy for each staff to see the interlinkages within the team.

I also think it’s important not to lose touch with reality. So many people externally demand my time. So, it’s easy not to loose touch on the frontline of the organisation, and just let people tell you. My view, though, is that it’s better to find things out yourself rather than rely on layers of organisational filtering to tell you what’s going on. I take time to personally talk to staff and members as often as possible.

What decisions have you made in your career that you look back on and feel where mistakes and what have you learned from them?
I have failed so many times in an eagerness to realise quick results from my actions. But experiencing failures is important to future success. As long as you’re honest with yourself, you can really learn from them. The good news is that I have matured with time and am no longer eager to make drastic changes. Most importantly, in sticking to the ‘six E’s’, I adhere to two simple rules: “First, always have fun. Second, never forget the first rule.

Describe your ordinary day? Do you have enough personal time? Is there a particular moment or memory that stands out for you?
My day usually starts right around 4:30 in the morning with my routine exercise. By 6.30am I hit the road to the office. In the office, I start drafting out a plan for the day. I like to have some time to myself free of office distractions to map out an agenda for what I want to accomplish each day. I typically draw up a grid divided up into four sectors: team, strategy, product, and growth, and then list out the tasks that need to be accomplished in each area. This helps me make sure that I touch all of the major aspects of my daily business and don’t let anything slide. I love to work late but most of the times like to be home early enough to help my children with homework. Saturday is my day for friends and as an ardent soccer fan also take time to watch football. Sunday is my family day and after church, I will always have time to relax or go shopping with my family.

Any other thing you would like us know about the sector?
I am delighted to work is an industry that directly and indirectly employs over 2 million people. I applaud everyone who have made a contribution to the success of the industry. It has taken dedication and innovation. I would like to keep the upward trajectory. I believe I have the support within the industry to make this a reality.