French investment company Mirova is investing $8.5 million in Pamoja, a European-based company with a solid presence in East Africa, to support stallholder farmers in Kenya and Tanzania adopt sustainable macadamia farming.
The small-scale farmers who work with Pamoja mainly come from the two countries.
In Kenya, the Swiss company which is involved in exporting macadamia nuts to Europe plans to expedite its project growth by collaborating with a minimum of 6,000 small-scale farmers.
The company’s subsidiary, TenSenses, operates a macadamia nut processing plant in Nairobi for global distribution.
Meanwhile, Macjaro, a subsidiary of Pamoja in Tanzania, under the management of Guillaume Maillard, is focused on establishing macadamia nut farms that prioritize agroforestry ecosystems.
Pajoma aims to oversee 6,200 hectares of land across the two East African countries.
The company plans to adhere to stringent sustainability standards, including organic and fair trade certifications, while also aiming to assist 13,000 small local producers by the year 2031.
Such endeavors have the potential to significantly influence the global market for these highly valued nuts, widely utilized in pastries and cosmetics.
According to projections from the Indian consultancy Mordor Intelligence, this market is anticipated to reach a value of $2.48 billion by 2028.
“This partnewship with Mirova will empower us to intensify our endeavors towards promoting the sustainable and profitable utilization of arable land, as well as providing training to producers in adopting best practices. Additionally, it will afford us the opportunity to enhance our industrial infrastructure, which adheres to our Swiss standards, thereby enabling our processed nuts from Kenya to compete effectively with those from other sources,” said Guillaume Maillard, the founder of Pajoma.
As part of the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) fund, launched in collaboration with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to support initiatives promoting land degradation neutrality, Mirova is allocating $8.5 million towards macadamia nut production.
This fund extends its support beyond macadamia nuts to encompass various other commodities such as nuts, coffee, cocoa, fresh fruit, timber, pharmaceutical ingredients, and payments for ecosystem services across Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
