Komaza is revolutionizing African forestry by unlocking the potential for small-scale farmers to serve industrial wood markets. With entrepreneurial roots in San Francisco, California and operational headquarters in Kilifi, Kenya, they have already planted 2 million trees with over 6,000 farmers, making them Kenya’s largest commercial tree planter. With a solid proof-of-concept and over 100 full-time employees, they are currently scaling both their staff and operations at a rapid pace.
Komaza is developing their innovative “micro-forestry” model with the goal of becoming Africa’s largest forestry company. They partner with rural farmers to plant woodlots that they manage collectively as a “virtual plantation.” Farmers contribute land and labor, and are paid a fair price for harvested trees. Komaza provides training, planting inputs, maintenance support, harvesting services, and a guaranteed market into their wood processing and sales operations. By leveraging farmer land and labor, Komaza can access effectively limitless land and plant trees for far less than big plantations – a powerful disruption to the traditional forestry business model.
IMPACT DRIVEN, BUSINESS FOCUSED
Komaza is a forestry business specifically designed to get small-scale farmers out of poverty. They take this challenge seriously and apply this mission throughout their decisions and company culture. Critically, they aim to scale their impact as widely as possible.
They recognize that achieving and sustaining significant scale requires a commercially competitive business model -- there's no way to get millions of farmers out of poverty by growing trees if their wood can't compete in the market. Komaza will deliver the greatest social impact by also delivering the greatest commercial success. If they get farmers out of poverty while generating attractive financial returns, they can scale up far more than if they must indefinitely rely on philanthropic subsidies. Therefore, while impact is their existential goal, building an awesomely successful business is their day-to-day obsession.
SUPPORTING SMALL FARMERS IN COMMERCIAL FORESTRY\
Komaza provides farmers with a comprehensive suite of products and services to earn income by growing trees. They are now developing the capacity and systems to scale this offering throughout coastal Kenya and far beyond.
TOP-QUALITY FORESTRY INPUTS & KNOWLEDGE
They have identified top-performing tree species for coastal Kenya, mapped the best planting areas, developed one of East Africa's largest seedling nurseries, and optimized planting inputs and tools for micro-forestry. Komaza provides all inputs and tools to farmers for free, in exchange for exclusive & fair tree harvesting rights.
EXTENSIVE TRAINING & LIFETIME SUPPORT
Komaza provides farmers with deep training and support, from initial land surveys and site preparation, to planting and seedling care, through to long-term monitoring and maintenance services for the lifetime of every farm. As a result, farmers are confident they're growing the best trees and applying best practices.
TREE HARVESTING, PROCESSING & SALES
Selective harvesting to maximize long-term profit is a science. Trees are heavy and hard to transport. Value-adding wood processing requires economies of scale and serious equipment. Markets are complex and dynamic. Komaza does all this hard work while offering farmers life-changing income to maximize their impact.
