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For funders and impact investors

Fund East African avocado projects that already have growers, buyers and a team

Foundations, development finance institutions, impact funds, bilateral agencies, embassies and corporate funders looking for agribusiness projects in Kenya and East Africa usually face the same problem: strong ideas without an operator, or operators without the data a funder needs. Konza Tropicals grows, packs and exports avocados, processes avocado oil, and has taken more than 30 first time exporters to market and set up or certified eight avocado oil processors. This page sets out the projects we are ready to deliver with funding partners, the instruments we can work with and how we report.

Start a conversation Development partnerships

30+first time exporters taken to their first shipment since 2023

8avocado oil processors set up, certified or linked to buyers

5 countriesKenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi

Smallholder grower holding a branch of Hass avocados in Kenya

Who this is for

Funders who want a project with an operator behind it

We work with grant makers and impact investors whose mandates cover smallholder incomes, youth and women in agribusiness, climate smart agriculture and agroforestry, post harvest loss, food processing and value addition, trade and market access, and private sector development in East Africa. Whether you fund through calls for proposals, direct awards, blended finance facilities or investment, we can meet you with a project that has growers, buyers and a delivery team already in place.

FoundationsDevelopment finance institutionsImpact investorsBilateral and multilateral agenciesEmbassies and trade promotion bodiesCorporate foundations and CSRCarbon and climate financeUniversities and research funders

Project pipeline

Projects ready for funding partners

Each project below has a sponsor, a site or a grower base, identified buyers and a delivery team. Budgets, uses of funds and sponsor contribution are shared in an information memorandum after a confidentiality agreement.

Commercial Hass orchard expansion with an outgrower programmeExpansion of our Rift Valley plantations alongside a structured outgrower programme for smallholder and youth led groups: planting material, agronomy, free harvesting by trained crews, farm gate payment for every grade and a guaranteed market through our export and processing operations. Suits equity, concessional debt, matching grants and agroforestry or carbon finance.

Avocado oil extraction, refining and bottling capacityExpanded extraction, refining and bottling capacity in Kenya so that fruit outside fresh export grade is processed into crude, extra virgin and refined oil for European and Asian buyers rather than lost. Suits equity, equipment finance, offtake backed finance and grants for the farmer linked components.

Farmer market access and first shipment programmesExport readiness assessments, buyer matchmaking at international fairs, offer and contract coaching and first shipment support for cooperatives, aggregators and young exporters in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi; the model behind our 30 plus first time exporters. Suits grants, technical assistance and results based finance.

Quality, traceability and post harvest loss reductionGrower registers, lot coding, dry matter and residue testing, pre cooling and cold chain, and independent preloading inspection, delivered with Fruit Quality Studio Africa. Suits grants, technical assistance and retailer or importer cofunding.

Regional processor developmentSet up, certification and buyer linkage for avocado oil and dried fruit processors in East Africa, replicating the eight processors we have already supported. Suits grants, concessional debt, equipment finance and blended facilities.

Research and pilotsResidue use from avocado pressing, agroforestry carbon measurement, irrigation and climate resilience pilots with universities and research funders; results published only once technically validated.

Instruments

Funding instruments we can work with

Grants and technical assistanceProgramme delivery as implementing partner or technical consultant, with a non profit partner as legal recipient where the funder requires one; budgets published only when the funder approves.

Matching grants and results based financeCofunded farmer and processor programmes where disbursement follows measured results: exporters shipped, farmers paid, tonnes processed, certificates achieved.

Concessional and commercial debtAsset finance for processing lines and irrigation, working capital and pre export finance against contracted offtake, with audited accounts, export records and contract evidence to the lender's specification.

Guarantees and first lossRisk sharing that unlocks local bank lending to our outgrowers, processors and ourselves; we structure the underlying facility with the bank.

Equity and quasi equityMinority or project level equity in orchards, processing and refining capacity, as described on our investment and partnerships page; not an offer of securities.

Carbon and agroforestry financeRain fed agroforestry orchards and outgrower planting with measured carbon benefits, structured with specialist partners once measurement is validated.

What you get

How we work with funders

Baseline before activitiesThe constraint being addressed and the measured starting point, collected before activities begin.

Participants counted, not estimatedCounties, districts and groups involved, with participant counts and farm gate payments reported as measured.

SafeguardsChild labour, gender, environmental and data protection safeguards appropriate to the funder's policies, and GRASP or SMETA audits where programmes supply retailers.

Market linked by designEvery programme ends in a buyer: our own export and processing operations, SAFTA programmes in Europe, or the importers in our buyer databases.

Transparent governanceConfidentiality agreement, information memorandum and data room, site visit, term sheet and confirmatory diligence; we do not accept funds before documentation is complete.

Honest reportingTargets beside measured results, material risks discussed openly, and no achievement reported that has not been measured.

Due diligence

From expression of interest to decision

1. Introduction

A 45 minute call to confirm fit with your mandate, geography, ticket size and timeline. We send the public group summary and a one page concept for the project that fits.

2. Concept note and data room

A concept note or proposal in your format, and after a confidentiality agreement, the information memorandum, model, land and lease documents, licences and offtake evidence through authenticated access.

3. Visit and decision

Rift Valley orchards, a working packhouse and cold store and our processing operations, with growers and partners present; then term sheet or grant agreement and confirmatory diligence.

Start a conversation Arrange a due diligence visit

Questions funders ask

Before you send a call or an expression of interest

Is Konza Tropicals a non profit?

No. Konza Tropicals Limited is a private Kenyan company. It can be a project sponsor, implementing partner or technical consultant, and where a programme needs a non profit legal recipient we work with an eligible partner organisation. We do not solicit donations.

What size of funding do your projects need?

Projects range from technical assistance and farmer programme budgets in the tens of thousands of dollars to orchard and processing investments in the millions. Capital requirements, uses of funds and sponsor contribution are provided in an information memorandum after a confidentiality agreement, not on the website.

Which instruments can you work with?

Grants and technical assistance, matching grants, results based finance, concessional and commercial debt, guarantees and first loss, equity and quasi equity, equipment finance, offtake backed finance and carbon or agroforestry finance, singly or blended.

Which countries do your projects cover?

Kenya first, with partner orchards, processors and programmes in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi; our consultancy also works in the wider region.

How do you report results?

Every programme document sets out the problem and baseline, participants counted as measured, activities and delivery team, budget and cofunding, safeguards, and targets beside measured results. We do not report achievements that have not been measured.

Can we visit before deciding?

Yes. Due diligence visits to the Rift Valley orchards, a working packhouse and cold store and our processing operations are organised from Nairobi or Nakuru, with quality testing on site.

How quickly do you respond to a call or expression of interest?

We reply within two working days with a public summary and a proposed call, and we can turn a concept note around inside the timelines of most calls for proposals.

Independent quality control and transparent trade, built into every shipment

Two partners work alongside our own team on every export programme, so buyers see the fruit before it sails and know the price before they commit.

Fruit Quality Studio Africa

Independent avocado quality control, the Kenyan arm of Quality Studio Europe. Every consignment is inspected at the packhouse before loading, with a preloading QC report on dry matter, defects, sizing and pulp temperature shared with the buyer, and arrival inspection in Europe on request or as agreed per programme.

qualitystudio.eu →

SAFTA, Fruit Trade Assistance: Sales Execution Office, Antwerp

Our partner Sales Execution Office in Antwerp, Belgium. SAFTA is not a buyer of our fruit: it sells Konza Tropicals avocados on our behalf to retailers, importers and ripeners across Europe and executes each programme from offer to payment, with fixed and transparent pricing, programme contracts, cold chain from packhouse to destination and SAFTA Rescue support for shipments in European ports, so growers and importers both know where they stand.

fruittradeassistance.com →

Value addition and agroprocessing

We process, refine, pack and export avocado oil and East African value added products

Crude, extra virgin and refined avocado oil is our lead value added product, alongside dried and freeze dried fruit, frozen avocado, macadamia and purees, each lot shipped with a batch certificate of analysis. Investors, offtake buyers and development partners who want to grow processing capacity with us start on the investment and partnerships page.

Avocado oil grades and specifications Investment and partnerships

Contact

Let us talk fruit

We work from Kenya with partner orchards and exporters in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, and we answer email during East African, European and Gulf business hours.

Emailexports@konzatropicals.comSupply offers, orders and shipment enquiries

Emailconsult@konzatropicals.comConsultancy, partnerships and investors

Where we workKenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and all East Africa