Kakuzi Takes Lead in 2025 Kenya Avocado Excellence Awards.

Kakuzi Plc (NSE: KUKZ), one of Kenya’s most prominent agribusiness and superfoods producers, has secured a leading position in the upcoming 2025 Kenya Avocado Excellence Awards (KAEA).

The company, widely recognised for its premium-quality avocados supplied to both local and international markets, has received four nominations further reinforcing its reputation as a well-structured, diversified, and vertically integrated agricultural enterprise.

The Kenya Avocado Excellence Awards, hosted annually by the Avocado Society of Kenya, celebrate excellence across the avocado value chain. The sixth edition of this prestigious event is set to take place on 5 December 2025 at the Argyle Grand Hotel in Nairobi, where top performers in the industry will be acknowledged for their contribution to Kenya’s growing avocado sector.

Kakuzi’s four nominations cover significant categories that reflect its scale and expertise. These include the Large-Scale Orchards category, recognising its expansive Murang’a estates covering more than 100 acres; the Nursery and Seedlings Growers category; a nomination for Large-Scale Exporter, awarded to producers with over 200 containers shipped; and Auxiliary Services, highlighting its advanced and efficient packhouse operations. These nominations underscore the company’s influence across multiple stages of the avocado supply chain.

Speaking about the recognition, Kakuzi Managing Director Mr Chris Flowers said: “This recognition belongs to our exceptional teams for their collective efforts to position Kenya as a globally competitive producer of avocados.” He also praised the dedication of Kakuzi staff both in the field and at the packhouse, emphasising that the nominations “reflect the continuous commitment to producing quality avocados.”

Mr Flowers reaffirmed the company’s plans to strengthen its collaboration with smallholder growers, adding: “We will continue collaborating and empowering smallholder avocado farmers through technical training and capacity building to enable market access.”

Kakuzi currently operates 963 hectares of certified avocado production, making it one of the region’s largest producers. The company also runs an extensive outgrower scheme, helping hundreds of small-scale farmers improve production standards and access export markets. Additionally, Kakuzi provides free avocado maturity-testing services, ensuring that fruit meets the strict quality requirements demanded by export destinations.

These award nominations come shortly before the release of Kakuzi’s 2024 sustainability report, reaffirming the company’s commitment to environmental stewardship, ethical production, and social responsibility under its ESG framework. As sustainability and global market competitiveness become increasingly important for Kenya’s horticultural sector, Kakuzi’s recognition highlights its leadership in responsible agricultural practices.

The 2025 Kenya Avocado Excellence Awards will celebrate not only Kakuzi’s achievements but also the wider industry’s strides towards innovation, sustainability, and world-class production standards.

Africa’s future lies not in isolated interventions but in a cohesive, interlinked agricultural framework. (Image credit: AAII)

The African Agri Investment Indaba, held last week, shifted the continent’s agricultural conversation from individual innovations to a far more ambitious and unified vision.

Rather than celebrating isolated breakthroughs, the event framed African food security as dependent on an integrated technological ecosystem one where drones, circular bio-economies and intelligent infrastructure operate as interconnected components of a resilient agricultural system.

The dialogue quickly moved beyond the familiar question of what each technology could achieve. Instead, speakers explored the transformative potential unlocked when these tools work in concert. Gerrit van Rensburg of SkyFarmers opened the discussion by demonstrating how modern agricultural drones had evolved far beyond aerial spraying. These machines now collect granular, real-time data that identifies precisely where interventions are needed. He argued that such information forms the essential “foundational layer” of every smart and responsive farm.

Building on this, Gerald Nel of Grüner and FARA presented how that data could power the Integrated Bio-Circular Networks Africa (IBNA). Within this model, predicted crop residues and agricultural waste cease to be by-products. Instead, they become vital resources converted into renewable energy and organic fertiliser that feed back into farms and processing centres. This closed-loop system illustrated how data-driven production and circular resource use reinforce one another.

The system’s environmental benefits were then linked directly to financial opportunity. Sabrina Basson of EmitiQ explained how regenerative practices, supported by precision insights and circular processes, contribute to measurable carbon sequestration. She showed that these gains allow farmers to access carbon markets, effectively turning improved soil health into a new revenue stream. This, she noted, creates a powerful economic rationale for adopting sustainable farming practices.

Yet improved production meant little without safeguarding harvests. Bühler’s Marco Sutter highlighted the next critical step: smart storage solutions capable of drastically reducing post-harvest losses. With nearly 30% of Africa’s grain historically wasted after harvest, his presentation underscored how intelligent silos able to detect spoilage, pests and mycotoxins protect the value created throughout the farming cycle.

Finally, Roble Sabrie of the FAO brought the conversation full circle by linking technological progress to trade and food access. He emphasised that even the most advanced farming systems depend on reliable transport routes. Efficient pathways such as the Lobito Corridor, he explained, are essential: “Corridors are the circulatory system,” he said, “moving healthy produce from robust agricultural hearts to hungry markets.” Cutting logistics costs by nearly half, these corridors ensure that the gains made on farms reach regional consumers and global markets.

By the close of the Indaba, one message was unmistakable: Africa’s future lies not in isolated interventions but in a cohesive, interlinked agricultural framework. This vision where precision data enables circular economies, environmental gains are monetised, production is protected by intelligent storage, and goods travel efficiently to market offers investors a compelling, systemic opportunity. It promises an agricultural transformation that is resilient, competitive and genuinely future-ready.

The investment goes beyond cassava production.

Tanzania has attracted a major US$640mn investment to develop large-scale cassava cultivation and processing operations, a move expected to create over 100,000 jobs within the next ten years.

The project has been awarded to Pan-Tanzania Agriculture Developments Limited, which has been allocated 62,000 acres in Kilwa District, Lindi Region. On this land, the company plans to grow cassava and establish an industrial park dedicated to value addition and export.

The initiative was formally launched by Kitila Mkumbo, Minister of State in the President’s Office (Planning and Investment), during a land-handover ceremony. He described the project as part of a broader push to accelerate industrialisation under Tanzania’s National Development Vision 2050. The programme falls under the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority (TISEZA), which is tasked with driving manufacturing growth and job creation across the country.

The investment goes beyond cassava production. Alongside cultivating and processing cassava for export particularly to meet rising demand for cassava flour in countries such as China - the company also plans to grow soybeans and cashew nuts, and establish meat-processing operations.

Minister Mkumbo highlighted the project’s wider economic impact, noting it aims to “strengthen economic linkages across agriculture, processing, export, and tax revenue.” He added that the investment has the potential to significantly uplift Lindi Region, which currently contributes just 2% of the nation’s GDP.

The development spans four villages — Mavuji, Migeregere, Nainokwe, and Liwiti and will include modern infrastructure, improved irrigation, enhanced mobile connectivity, and advanced processing facilities. Of the total land, 2,000 acres will be dedicated to the industrial park for value addition, while the remaining 60,000 acres will be used to cultivate strategic crops within an Agricultural Special Economic Zone (AgriEPZ).

Gilead Teri, TISEZA’s Director General, clarified that the land is being provided under a derivative right rather than freehold, stressing that the investor must adhere to the project plan, with TISEZA closely monitoring implementation.

Local authorities emphasised Kilwa’s suitability for the venture, citing its peaceful environment, reliable electricity from the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project and nearby natural gas, as well as strategic infrastructure including Kilwa Port and major road networks, all essential for supporting export-focused agribusiness.

Overall, this landmark investment is set to elevate cassava from a staple crop to a significant export commodity, while driving rural development, creating jobs, fostering industrial growth, and boosting regional economic development in southern Tanzania.

Kenya’s mangrove revival stands as a compelling model of regenerative action proving that when communities, technology, and corporate commitment unite, both nature and people can thrive.

Kenya’s coastline is witnessing a powerful shift towards genuine sustainability through an ambitious mangrove restoration initiative supported by Husqvarna Group, veritree, and the Earthlungs Reforestation Foundation.

The programme, which involves planting more than 300,000 mangrove trees, is proving how environmental renewal can go hand in hand with community development and long-term economic resilience.

As Jonas Willaredt, Husqvarna’s Vice-President of Sustainability Affairs, said, “Sustainability is not an abstract concept. It’s something we build, protect and live every day.”

Mangroves are among the world’s most valuable coastal ecosystems. They anchor shorelines, support rich marine habitats, and store carbon at far higher rates than many inland tropical forests. Yet decades of urban expansion and land conversion have severely degraded Kenya’s mangrove belts. Restoring them is therefore not only an ecological necessity but a crucial step towards safeguarding coastal livelihoods.

What sets this project apart is its strong community foundation. Local residents from women’s collectives to youth groups  are central to the entire process. They grow seedlings, nurture mangrove nurseries, and plant the young trees across damaged coastal zones. This involvement provides much-needed income, builds environmental knowledge, and inspires a sense of guardianship over the land and sea they depend on.

veritree’s CEO and Co-Founder, Derrick Emsley, captures this vision perfectly: “Every tree we plant is verified, monitored and linked to measurable impact.… Our goal isn’t just reforestation, it’s regeneration.”

Already, the restored areas are beginning to show encouraging signs of recovery: stronger soils, richer biodiversity, and increased carbon absorption. These early shifts signal a healthier and more resilient coastal environment taking shape.

Flora Awiro, Chief Operating Officer at Earthlungs, reinforces the wider significance: “True responsible development restores both the land and the people who depend on it.”

Beyond environmental gains, the restored mangroves help revive fish nurseries, improve food security, protect coastal communities from storms, and create opportunities in eco-tourism. As Willaredt notes, “Healthy ecosystems are the foundation of healthy economies.”

For Husqvarna, this marks its first major restoration project in Africa and an important step towards its global goal of planting one million trees. Through veritree’s transparent monitoring platform, progress is shared openly, ensuring trust and accountability.

Kenya’s mangrove revival stands as a compelling model of regenerative action proving that when communities, technology, and corporate commitment unite, both nature and people can thrive.