The art of avocado farming in Kilimanjaro

In the north of Tanzania, under the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, and abutting its national park, can be found Africado, a major avocado growing and packing operation.

Africado’s headquarters is based on Kifufu farm (a former derelict coffee plantation) and features fully grown and productive avocado crops, as well as the company packhouse. Today, the company’s operations have also expanded to nearby Gararagua farm, well on its way to being fully developed, and Mwanza, which largely consists of degraded land now in the process of restoration. Finnfund has been financing Africado since 2018.

From seed to fruit, and global export

To have productive lives, avocado plants require careful tending including irrigation, pruning and pest control. The saplings, grown from seed and grafted cuttings on Kifufu’s own nursery, require special care with site cultivation, fertiliser, weed control and mulch. Africado uses sorghum grown in the intergrows as a mulch to protect the plants from desiccation, which builds the soil’s organic matter and reduces the need for pesticides, especially in the early years.

Harvest time comes twice a year or so, with a main season from June to August, where most of the crop is collected, followed by a smaller ‘off-season’ harvest over the winter.  The avocados are gathered at the company packhouse, where the fruits are washed, quality-controlled, and graded by size. From around the company’s own farms, different varieties of avocados such as ‘carmen’, ‘gem’ and ‘pinkerton’ as well as the common ‘hass’ are gathered alongside crops from various smallholder growers.  

Via the packhouse, orders from around the world with unique preferences and nuances in their desired avocado variety and size are managed.  Crucially, through utilising global export markets Africado can maximise the value of their fruit, creating a sustainable business model supporting sustainability and the company’s positive impacts.

Triple bottom line sustainability is key

Africado’s approach to sustainability is impressive. Through their actions, landscapes are regenerated leading to positive impacts on the surrounding communities. At Kifufu, substantial areas of the farm are protected as havens for natural vegetation and wildlife. Indeed, even outside Kifufu’s borders, the regeneration of natural forest is visible in the national park as a result of the company’s proactive stewardship of the biodiversity zones and farm perimeter.

At Gararagua and Mwanza, planning and development of new protected areas are ongoing.  Meanwhile, in this largely rural community dominated by subsistence farming, there are positive impacts from provision of quality employment, both within the company and their network of suppliers and smallholders.

These works on ensuring positive environmental and social impacts directly benefit day-to-day operations, through, for example, improved ecological conditions for the avocado plants and enhancing the reputation of the company with stakeholders.  Crucially, through certifications such as Global GAP and Rainforest Alliance, the company can prove its credentials to customers, unlocking value addition.

Investing in sustainable land use

Ultimately, positive impacts are built by moving land from a degraded condition into sustainable use through investment.

Africado’s most recent land holding addition is Mwanza.  Here in the undeveloped areas, the land is currently bare and, as such, unsupportive of livelihoods and of minimal habitat value. However, as the business invests further into avocado production in this landscape, the social and community benefits will begin to flow as the size of the business expands based on the newly productive land.  Also, over time in parallel with plantation development, the land areas selected for conservation will be gradually restored and protected.

Looking to the future, Africado hopes to further build on its success to date by expanding into further varieties of avocado with differing seasons to offset market risk and further expanding processing operations.  With global market potential growing and Africado’s robust triple-bottom-line management approach, certainly exciting times lie ahead for Kilimanjaro’s premier avocado production company.

Peter Chappell Investment Manager peter.chappell@finnfund.fi