English subtitles for clip: File:The President Tours the Faffa Food Factory in Ethiopia.webm
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1 00:00:00,667 --> 00:00:04,137 President Obama: So just very quickly for the press 2 00:00:04,137 --> 00:00:09,707 who is here, one of the signature projects that 3 00:00:09,709 --> 00:00:12,209 we've been initiating is something called 4 00:00:12,212 --> 00:00:13,712 Feed the Future. 5 00:00:13,713 --> 00:00:18,783 And the goal is to drastically increase the 6 00:00:18,785 --> 00:00:22,655 productivity of small holder farmers all throughout 7 00:00:22,655 --> 00:00:27,425 Africa, because what we know is that a huge percentage of 8 00:00:27,427 --> 00:00:30,467 Africans are still getting their income 9 00:00:30,463 --> 00:00:35,473 from agriculture. 10 00:00:35,468 --> 00:00:41,608 And most of them are very small plots, and not a lot 11 00:00:41,608 --> 00:00:47,718 of technology, not a lot of inputs, but with just a few 12 00:00:47,714 --> 00:00:51,954 smart interventions, a little bit of help, they can 13 00:00:51,951 --> 00:00:56,561 make huge improvements in their overall yields. 14 00:00:56,556 --> 00:01:02,196 So I don't know if everybody was able to hear, but one of 15 00:01:02,195 --> 00:01:05,435 our farmers who is part of this program, increased her 16 00:01:05,432 --> 00:01:07,972 yields threefold. 17 00:01:07,967 --> 00:01:11,407 So this used to be the corn that she was able to 18 00:01:11,404 --> 00:01:15,374 produce, and this is the corn she's producing now. 19 00:01:15,375 --> 00:01:19,215 With three times the yields, not only did she get enough 20 00:01:19,212 --> 00:01:23,782 income to build a new house and get some nice clothes, 21 00:01:23,783 --> 00:01:28,993 she also was able to buy a cow, which in turn obviously 22 00:01:28,988 --> 00:01:33,828 gives her additional resources to support her family. 23 00:01:33,827 --> 00:01:36,697 She's now able to send her children to school. 24 00:01:36,696 --> 00:01:40,696 And what Feed the Future is doing is not just helping 25 00:01:40,700 --> 00:01:43,840 the farmer to increase their yield, now what we're also 26 00:01:43,837 --> 00:01:47,577 able to do is to then connect the small farmers to 27 00:01:47,574 --> 00:01:51,074 factories like this one, so that they have a market and 28 00:01:51,077 --> 00:01:56,117 they're able to sell their products for a fair price. 29 00:01:56,115 --> 00:02:02,855 In turn, this factory is taking corn, soy, and other 30 00:02:02,856 --> 00:02:06,456 foodstuffs and able to package them into nutritious 31 00:02:06,459 --> 00:02:10,969 low-cost meals that are actually then supplemented 32 00:02:10,964 --> 00:02:14,064 with vitamins and are enhancing the nutrition of 33 00:02:14,067 --> 00:02:18,307 low income peoples all across Ethiopia. 34 00:02:18,304 --> 00:02:23,844 So you know, by some smart interventions, what we're 35 00:02:23,843 --> 00:02:27,113 able to do is not only increase the incomes of 36 00:02:27,113 --> 00:02:31,313 millions of people all across Africa, but we're 37 00:02:31,317 --> 00:02:38,287 also able to you know, create new markets and food 38 00:02:38,291 --> 00:02:43,831 processing alongside the foodstuffs themselves, and 39 00:02:43,830 --> 00:02:47,070 that helps to grow the economy as a whole. 40 00:02:47,066 --> 00:02:48,906 We've been talking a lot about how Ethiopia has been 41 00:02:48,902 --> 00:02:51,942 seeing significant growth, one of the fastest-growing 42 00:02:51,938 --> 00:02:53,538 economies in the world. 43 00:02:53,540 --> 00:02:57,640 A lot of that is because of outstanding women like this, 44 00:02:57,644 --> 00:03:00,144 who are out there in -- when they triple their income, 45 00:03:00,146 --> 00:03:03,516 that's good for the entire country. 46 00:03:03,516 --> 00:03:06,716 So it's so nice to meet you. 47 00:03:06,719 --> 00:03:09,259 Female Speaker: [speaking foreign language] 48 00:03:09,255 --> 00:03:10,855 Male Speaker: [speaking foreign language] 49 00:03:10,857 --> 00:03:15,457 Female Speaker: [speaking foreign language] 50 00:03:18,131 --> 00:03:19,161 Male Speaker: I'm glad that we met. 51 00:03:19,165 --> 00:03:22,765 President Obama: I'm glad that we met, too. 52 00:03:22,769 --> 00:03:24,669 We need a good picture, come on. 53 00:03:24,671 --> 00:03:27,271 Pete? 54 00:03:31,411 --> 00:03:32,441 And then, come, come. 55 00:03:32,445 --> 00:03:34,585 We've got to get our translator and our whole 56 00:03:34,581 --> 00:03:36,281 team in here. 57 00:03:36,282 --> 00:03:38,522 All right. 58 00:03:41,321 --> 00:03:43,221 So just to give you a sense, so far about seven million 59 00:03:43,222 --> 00:03:48,862 farmers have been impacted by Feed the Future so far, 60 00:03:48,861 --> 00:03:52,501 and we're going to continue to increase that in the years 61 00:03:52,498 --> 00:03:53,338 to come. 62 00:03:53,333 --> 00:03:55,633 And we've gotten terrific cooperation from governments 63 00:03:55,635 --> 00:03:56,735 all across Africa. 64 00:03:56,736 --> 00:03:58,136 It's one of the things I'll be talking about at the 65 00:03:58,137 --> 00:03:59,877 African Union today. 66 00:03:59,872 --> 00:04:00,912 All right? 67 00:04:00,907 --> 00:04:03,877 Thanks, guys. 68 00:04:03,876 --> 00:04:05,216 President Obama: So that's another important point 69 00:04:05,211 --> 00:04:07,511 about the work that we're doing with Feed the Future, 70 00:04:07,513 --> 00:04:12,123 is we're also getting companies, some of the big 71 00:04:12,118 --> 00:04:16,758 international food processors, to make 72 00:04:16,756 --> 00:04:22,866 commitments to partner with local food processing so 73 00:04:22,862 --> 00:04:24,432 that we can start building capacity. 74 00:04:24,430 --> 00:04:29,940 Historically, part of the problem is that even if you 75 00:04:29,936 --> 00:04:35,276 have food that's grown here, the processing is then done 76 00:04:35,274 --> 00:04:39,584 someplace else, it's higher up on the value chain and 77 00:04:39,579 --> 00:04:42,749 you don't get the kind of integrated food industries 78 00:04:42,749 --> 00:04:46,149 locally that can be more affordable for people and 79 00:04:46,152 --> 00:04:49,192 can create jobs and industries here. 80 00:04:49,188 --> 00:04:54,498 And part of our goal is not just to provide food to 81 00:04:54,494 --> 00:04:59,504 countries that may have food scarcity, but to continually 82 00:04:59,499 --> 00:05:02,869 build up their capacity across the board. 83 00:05:02,869 --> 00:05:07,679 And so having strong corporate partners alongside 84 00:05:07,674 --> 00:05:11,974 local businesses can really make a big difference. 85 00:05:11,978 --> 00:05:13,518 Audience Member: Is there enough money for this? 86 00:05:13,513 --> 00:05:16,353 President Obama: We always want more, and we budgeted more. 87 00:05:16,349 --> 00:05:20,119 But what we're able to do is to leverage the dollars that 88 00:05:20,119 --> 00:05:25,229 we've got alongside efforts from other countries and 89 00:05:25,224 --> 00:05:30,834 from the private sector. 90 00:05:30,830 --> 00:05:34,370 And so every taxpayer dollar -- every U.S. 91 00:05:34,367 --> 00:05:37,707 taxpayer that we're putting in, we're leveraging a bunch 92 00:05:37,704 --> 00:05:39,134 of other money. 93 00:05:39,138 --> 00:05:44,148 Of course, the needs still outstrip what we're able to 94 00:05:44,143 --> 00:05:47,743 provide, and hopefully, by having built models that we 95 00:05:47,747 --> 00:05:52,917 know succeed, we can accelerate this even faster. 96 00:05:52,919 --> 00:05:55,519 But this has been one of the most -- there have been 97 00:05:55,521 --> 00:05:58,621 questions before about what are some signature 98 00:05:58,624 --> 00:06:01,464 initiatives that really make a difference. 99 00:06:01,461 --> 00:06:04,431 This is making a difference in very concrete ways. 100 00:06:04,430 --> 00:06:10,370 And the goal here, as is true with Power Africa and 101 00:06:10,369 --> 00:06:12,709 all the initiatives that we're putting forward, is to 102 00:06:12,705 --> 00:06:16,675 make sure that we are not in the business of just 103 00:06:16,676 --> 00:06:20,216 donating, but we're in the business of creating 104 00:06:20,213 --> 00:06:24,783 entrepreneurs, opportunity, and capacity locally, so 105 00:06:24,784 --> 00:06:30,894 that over time, Africa -- we want Ethiopia not only to be 106 00:06:30,890 --> 00:06:33,530 able to feed itself, we want eventually Ethiopia to be a 107 00:06:33,526 --> 00:06:35,466 food exporter as well. 108 00:06:35,461 --> 00:06:38,231 Audience Member: (inaudible) 109 00:06:38,231 --> 00:06:39,501 President Obama: Did you guys catch that, though? 110 00:06:39,499 --> 00:06:42,769 You want to speak? 111 00:06:42,769 --> 00:06:43,539 Female Speaker: Okay. 112 00:06:43,536 --> 00:06:44,266 So we -- 113 00:06:44,270 --> 00:06:45,000 President Obama: You don't have to go through the whole 114 00:06:45,004 --> 00:06:46,704 thing, but just quick summary. 115 00:06:46,706 --> 00:06:47,836 Female Speaker: So we believe in women 116 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:50,780 empowerment, especially at Faffa, because we believe 117 00:06:50,777 --> 00:06:52,947 that women are the best candidates to know the real 118 00:06:52,945 --> 00:06:55,115 needs of mothers and children, so we try to 119 00:06:55,114 --> 00:06:56,854 incorporate them at all stages of the 120 00:06:56,849 --> 00:06:59,419 decision-making process, because we value their 121 00:06:59,418 --> 00:07:03,088 opinions and their advice on how to -- starting from the 122 00:07:03,089 --> 00:07:05,189 very top to all the way to the bottom. 123 00:07:05,191 --> 00:07:06,631 President Obama: And what percentage of your employees 124 00:07:06,626 --> 00:07:07,356 did you say are -- 125 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:08,860 Female Speaker: Thirty percent of our employees are 126 00:07:08,861 --> 00:07:11,101 female, and 30 percent of those female employees have 127 00:07:11,097 --> 00:07:13,797 been working with us for over 30 years. 128 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:15,900 President Obama: Huh? 129 00:07:15,902 --> 00:07:17,472 Excellent.