Pamoja

Business model

Pamoja’s mission is to become a leader in sustainable macadamia sourcing and production. The Swiss based company manages two operating companies in East Africa: TenSenses Africa Limited in Kenya and Macjaro Limited in Tanzania.

TenSenses operates a 6,000 outgrower sourcing network of organic certified farmers. The company sources macadamia nuts in shell from smallholders, and cracks, packages and exports them through their processing plant in Kenya.

Macjaro in Tanzania currently consists of 3 corporate-managed farms planted with macadamia, coffee and banana. These farms are located on the slopes of the Kilimanjaro Mountain and are mostly planted with macadamia trees. Production of coffee and banana allows to generate early cashflows to support the development of the farms. In Tanzania, Pamoja has recently started to enrol surrounding farmers in an out-grower program.

Investment

Purpose: The LDN Fund investment of USD 8.5 million, enables Pamoja to facilitate the organic conversion of 1000 ha of corporate managed farms in Tanzania and expand the outgrower network in Kenya.

Duration: 8 years.

© Pamoja

Technical assistance

• Trainings on best practices for macadamia seedling production with the aim to scale up seedling production.
• Research the most effective methods of organic macadamia nut production, including developing and testing of organic fertilizers, organic pesticides and techniques specific for macadamia nuts.
• Support Pamoja to develop a solid ESMS framework, ready to carry the company’s growth.
• Support Pamoja to further build on their understanding of gender dynamics within the organization, to develop an ambitious gender equality strategy and identify intervention opportunities to implement this strategy;
• Assess living wage and living income gaps for Pamoja’s operations, and to develop a strategy to close these gaps.