Nairobi — Pamoja, a sustainable macadamia nut producer in East Africa, has received an investment of Sh1.2 billion from French asset management company Mirova to accelerate sustainable macadamia nut production in Kenya and Tanzania.
The firm says that it will use the capital to expand its projects in the two countries, with the aim of managing 6,200 hectares of land and supporting 13,000 small local producers by 2031.
Pamoja already works with nearly 6,000 small-scale producers in Kenya through its subsidiary, TenSenses, improving agricultural practices and providing access to international markets.
In Tanzania, Pamoja's subsidiary, Macjaro, is developing macadamia nut farms with respect for agroforestry ecosystems and aims to plant over 700 hectares.
The founder and managing director of Pamoja, Guillaume Maillard, said that they also intend to extend their support programme to small-scale producers to establish a sustainable value chain similar to what has been set up in Kenya.
"This partnership with Mirova will enable us to step our efforts up to promote sustainable and profitable exploitation of arable land, and to train producers in best practices," Maillard said.
"We will also be able to strengthen our industrial facilities, managed according to our Swiss standards, which enable our nuts processed in Kenya to compete with all other origins," he added.
The partnership is part of the land degradation neutrality (LDN) program co-sponsored by Mirova and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which finances projects on land degradation neutrality.
Pamoja has joined a portfolio of 12 sustainable land management projects in Latin America, Africa, and Asia in supply chains of coffee, cocoa, wood, nuts, fresh fruit, ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry, and payments for ecosystem services, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of the sustainable usiness model promoted by Mirova.
Gautier Quéru, Managing Director at Mirova, reinforced that, "This significant investment in Pamoja illustrates Mirova's ongoing commitment to sustainable land management in emerging countries."
