Paths to Prosperity Forum · KICC Nairobi · 10 November 2026

The Nairobi Declaration on the Ten by Three Model

Discovered in the entrepreneurial spirit of rural Kenyan women. Free to every nation. Owned by those who built it.

What this is

Today, Kenyan women artisans, Members of Parliament and Ten by Three sign the Nairobi Declaration: a call on the Government of Kenya to be the first nation to study the Ten by Three Model for national economic policy. It asks for one committee, three questions and one report to the National Assembly within a year. It asks nothing of the Exchequer, and it is already proven in Kenyan hands.

Read it below. Then sign it. The signing table is at the front of the hall from 5:15 PM: artisans sign the artisan pages; guests, buyers and partners sign as witnesses.

We declare · read aloud together at 5:15 PM

Brandy reads each line. When she pauses, the room answers: “We declare.”

That the Ten by Three Model works, and Kenya proved it. — WE DECLARE.

That trade can finance what borrowing cannot. — WE DECLARE.

That poverty is not an absence of worth. — WE DECLARE.

That one income is a single source of failure. — WE DECLARE.

That development must be measured by what remains. — WE DECLARE.

That the Model belongs to those who built it. — WE DECLARE.

And we call on the Government of Kenya to be the first nation to study the Ten by Three Model for national economic policy: one Technical Committee, three questions, a report to the National Assembly by 10 November 2027, and handicraft counted as a sector of Kenya’s economy.

This afternoon

Times are approximate and may shift a little on the day. Please be in your seat by 3:55 PM for the arrival of our guests of honour.

2:00 PM	Arrival and welcome tea
2:30 PM	Opening: prayer and welcome
2:40 PM	Meet the artisans
3:00 PM	Fashion show: Made in Kenya
3:29 PM	Film: Ten by Three around the World
3:33 PM	Panel: What we leave behind
3:55 PM	Please take your seats
4:00 PM	Guests of honour arrive: Sen. Agnes Kavindu Muthama, Hon. Dr. Joyce Atieno Bensuda, Hon. Ruth Adhiambo Odinga
4:07 PM	Film: One basket. Three incomes.
4:10 PM	Remarks: Sen. Agnes Kavindu Muthama, Senator, Machakos County
4:15 PM	Remarks: Hon. Ruth Adhiambo Odinga, Woman Representative, Kisumu County
4:20 PM	Keynote: Dr. Theresa Carrington, Founder and CEO, Ten by Three
4:40 PM	Remarks: Hon. Dr. Joyce Atieno Bensuda, Woman Representative, Homa Bay County
4:45 PM	Policy dialogue and your questions
5:15 PM	Signing of the Nairobi Declaration
5:30 PM	Certificates for the artisans
5:40 PM	Thanks and group photograph
5:50 PM	Tea and the artisan showcase: meet the women who made what you saw on the runway
6:00 PM	Close

Read the Declaration

The full text as it will be signed. The annexes with the evidence, the policy gaps and the sources are in the PDF.

Download the Declaration (PDF)

Preamble

Too many Kenyan families live on one income: one crop, one buyer, one season.

When that income fails, the nation pays. In February 2026 the Cabinet released 4.1 billion shillings for drought response, as 3.3 million Kenyans faced acute food insecurity. More than eight in ten Kenyan workers earn their living informally. Last quarter, more than three of every four shillings of tax revenue went to servicing debt.

Kenya cannot borrow its way to resilience. And aid can stop overnight. In January 2025, it did.

There is another way, and Kenyans have already proven it.

In 2012, Ten by Three® came to Kenya with a question, not a model. Can a path to prosperity be found in partnership with people living in poverty, whose voices are rarely heard? We bought what artisans made. We paid Prosperity Wages®, at least two and a half times the fair-trade standard. Then we watched what the women did with it. They built livestock herds, farms, shops, transport and trade. Those who built several businesses fared far better than those who built one. The number that held was three.

The Model was not designed in an office. It was discovered in the entrepreneurial spirit of rural Kenyan women.

The artisans who proved it are in this room. Beside them stand the parliamentarians who represent them, the buyers who carry their work to the world, and Ten by Three, which has worked with them since 2012.

We have not come to Nairobi to ask for rescue. We have come to offer Kenya what its own people built.

Having seen what Kenya’s artisans built, we make this Declaration.

We declare

That the Ten by Three Model works, and Kenya proved it. A fair market becomes three businesses. Three businesses become many streams of income. Many streams of income become a family with no single source of failure. Across Kenya and six other countries, 10,000 graduates have built 40,000 businesses and 160,000 streams of income, without government funding.
That trade can finance what borrowing cannot. When a buyer pays a Prosperity Wage, development is paid for at the point of sale, by the world’s markets, not by the Exchequer or a donor’s budget. A donor can stop overnight. A buyer who values well-made work comes back. Kenya already knows this: aid was paused in January 2025, while AGOA trade access was renewed to 31 December 2028. Kenya already returns ten per cent of mineral royalties to the community where the mine stands, under the Mining Act 2016. No rule does the same for the tea, the coffee, or the work of Kenyan hands.
That poverty is not an absence of worth. The artisan’s skill is the asset, and her entrepreneurial spirit is the engine. She is met where she is, paid a Prosperity Wage for well-made work, and asked to build three businesses of her own. She is an entrepreneur and a partner with obligations, not a beneficiary. The obligation is the dignity.
That one income is a single source of failure. No family should rest on one crop or one job. No producer should rest on one buyer, no programme on one donor, no nation on one lender. Resilience begins with more than one source of income in every household, and the Model sets the goal at three businesses.
That development must be measured by what remains. Not by money spent or people reached, but by businesses still operating and streams of income per household at 12, 36 and 60 months after support ends. A programme that leaves nothing behind has developed nothing.
That the Model belongs to those who built it. It is free to every nation, never charged for, and always credited to the artisans and to Ten by Three, which built it with them. Kenya, where it was proven, is the first nation offered it.

We call on the Government of Kenya

To be the first nation to study the Ten by Three Model for national economic policy, through one Motion of the National Assembly, by which:

A Technical Committee is formed under the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry within sixty (60) days, meeting with Ten by Three and producer representatives at least four (4) times in twelve (12) months;
Three questions are answered: what organisations should leave behind when their programmes end; how smallholders in export value chains can build businesses beyond their crop; and whether a voluntary, buyer-paid Prosperity Wage belongs in national policy;
The Committee reports to the National Assembly on or before 10 November 2027; and
Handicraft is recognised and counted as a sector of Kenya’s economy, measured in national statistics.

This asks nothing of the Exchequer, commits no one to a law in advance, and is already proven in Kenyan hands. The evidence, the gaps and the mechanism are set out in the Annexes.

We commit

The artisans commit to build, to keep building, and to sit with government as the Model is studied, because they are the ones who proved it.

The parliamentarians and public officers commit to carry this Declaration into the National Assembly and to support the Motion.

The buyers and partners commit to consider a Prosperity Share of their Kenyan sourcing at the Prosperity Wage.

Ten by Three commits to teach the Model freely, to share its methods and data openly, and to serve without fee as technical adviser to Kenya and to any nation that adopts it. It will hold the names Ten by Three® and Prosperity Wages® in trust, so that no one can sell what is given freely, or claim the standard without meeting it.

The pledge

To be read aloud together at the signing.

We will not wait to be rescued. We will build.

We will not rest our families on a single source of failure.

We will let fair trade pay for what borrowing cannot.

We will measure not what was given, but what remains.

What the women of Kenya discovered, we give freely to every nation,

and it will always belong to those who built it.

Questions and answers

For press, partners and officials. The full FAQ with sources is in the Declaration PDF and the press kit.

What is the Nairobi Declaration?

A declaration signed at the Ten by Three® Paths to Prosperity Forum in Nairobi on 10 November 2026. Signatories declare that the Ten by Three Model works and Kenya proved it; that poverty is not an absence of worth; that one income is a single source of failure; that trade can finance what borrowing cannot; that development must be measured by what remains; and that the Model belongs to those who built it. They call on Kenya to be the first nation to study it for national economic policy.

What is the Ten by Three Model?

An exchange, not a handout. Ten by Three buys ten well-made products a month, for three years, at Prosperity Wages® of at least 2.5 times the fair-trade standard. In return the artisan agrees to build three businesses of her own. Those businesses reach beyond handicraft into livestock, farms, shops, transport and trade, and each creates on average four streams of income. Across Kenya and six other countries: 10,000 graduates, 40,000 businesses, 160,000 streams of income, without government funding.

Where did it come from?

Ten by Three came to Kenya in 2012 with a question, not a model. It paid artisans fairly and watched what they did. Those who built several businesses fared far better than those who built one, and the number that held was three. The Model was discovered in the entrepreneurial spirit of rural Kenyan women.

Is this a new tax or levy on exporters?

No. If the Committee recommends it, the Prosperity Share is a voluntary, buyer-paid sourcing standard on a defined share of purchases. Kenyan producers are not taxed to fund it, and the money is ring-fenced for communities, not general revenue.

Who pays, and where does the money go?

The buyer pays the Prosperity Wage on the Prosperity Share. It goes into a ring-fenced Community Development Fund or trust and returns to producing communities by formula: 60 per cent to registered producers as earned Prosperity payments, 35 per cent to community priorities, at most 5 per cent to administration and audit. Everything is published and independently audited.

Isn’t this just Fairtrade?

Fairtrade certifies products with minimum prices and premiums. This is a national standard tied to a defined share, a defined term, and measurement of what remains at 12, 36 and 60 months. Its goal is three businesses per household, not a better price for one product.

Is Parliament being asked to promote a foreign NGO?

No. Parliament is asked to study a Kenyan national standard, discovered by Kenyan women. Ten by Three provides evidence and technical support without fee; stewardship, audit and reporting are Kenyan-led, and the Model is free to every nation.

Why does Ten by Three hold the trademarks?

So that no one can sell what is given freely, or claim the standard without meeting it. The names are held in trust; the Model costs nothing.

Is it only handicrafts?

No. Handicraft proves the method. The mechanism is sector-neutral and the Motion names tea, coffee, horticulture, fisheries and handicrafts.

Won’t buyers walk away?

It applies only to the Prosperity Share, not the whole contract, and any pilot runs 18 months, extendable to 36. Buyers gain a verified claim they can market.

How do you stop capture or corruption?

Ring-fencing, publication of every payment by county and value chain, an independent annual audit, and money that returns by rule, not discretion.

Does registration mean taxing the poor?

No. Registering to take part does not, by itself, create a tax bill. Producers under KSh 1 million a year pay no Turnover Tax. Registration is the key to equal access.

Isn’t this just the Mining Act’s 10 per cent?

Same principle, extended beyond minerals, with the plumbing fixed. The Mining Act 2016 returns 10 per cent of mineral royalties to host communities; much of it sat unpaid for years, and the 2013 royalty regulations were later struck down for want of public participation. The Prosperity Share returns a share of export value by formula, ring-fenced, published and audited, so the money arrives. And it covers the tea, the coffee and the work of Kenyan hands, which the Mining Act does not.

Why three businesses?

Because that is what Ten by Three observed, not what it designed. Women who built several businesses fared far better than those who built one, and the number that held was three. Many start five before three succeed.

How is this different from aid?

Aid begins with a verdict: you are poor, so you have nothing to offer. The Model begins with the artisan’s skill as the asset. She is paid for work done well and asked to build. She is a partner with obligations, not a beneficiary.

What does it cost the government?

Nothing to begin. Ten by Three serves without fee. The Declaration asks for a study committee, not a budget. Any pilot comes only if the Committee recommends one.

Isn’t this what NG-CDF and KDRDIP already do?

No. NG-CDF is a Treasury vote (not less than 2.5 per cent of national revenue, KSh 58.8 billion this year) that builds classrooms and pays bursaries, directed by MPs. KDRDIP was a US$103 million World Bank loan for three refugee-host counties that ended in 2023. Neither gives a producer a buyer, sets a goal of businesses per household, or measures what remains. The Model does all three, and it draws nothing from the Treasury or from borrowing. It adds income to the buildings they fund.

Does this fit what Kenya is already doing?

Yes. The Shirika Plan, launched in March 2025, moves refugee-hosting areas from aid dependency to self-reliance by 2036. The Declaration extends the same choice to every Kenyan producer who sells to the world.

Why the timing?

The Motion should be adopted early in 2027. Business pending when the 13th Parliament ends before the August 2027 election lapses; once formed, a Government committee keeps meeting through the election.

What is jua kali?

Swahili for “hot sun”: Kenya’s informal small-business sector, from metalworkers to tailors to craftspeople. Handicraft artisans are part of it, but Kenya does not count handicraft as a sector. The Declaration asks that it does.

Sign it

From 5:15 PM the Declaration lies open on the signing table at the front of the Impala Turkana Hall. If you are an artisan, add your name to the artisan pages: this Model is yours. If you are a guest, a buyer or a partner, sign as a witness. Every signature travels with the Declaration to the National Assembly.

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