Fahad Awadh, founder of YYTZ Agro-processing
We take a closer look at three entrepreneurs tapping into Tanzania’s agribusiness potential, from processing cashews for export and cultivating apples to building a poultry franchise network.
1. The entrepreneur bringing cashew processing home to Africa
Fahad Awadh is the founder of YYTZ Agro-Processing, an export-focused cashew producer based in Tanzania. Despite being one of the world’s major cashew growers, Tanzania exports 90% of its cashews in raw form. Awadh saw an opportunity to change this: by keeping cashew processing in Africa and selling to some of the world’s largest consumer markets.
Awadh made multiple research trips to Vietnam, where over 70% of the world’s cashews are processed, to learn more efficient manufacturing techniques. “That’s when I saw the abundant mechanisation and realised that if we were going to do this, we had to invest in mechanisation. We had to be as efficient as they are because that’s exactly who we were going to be competing with,” he says.
In Zanzibar, YYTZ processes the cashews by peeling, roasting, and flavouring the nuts using machinery equipped with cameras and optic vision to sort cashews by colour and size.
The cashews are flavoured with local ingredients and Zanzibar sea salt, offered in dry-roasted or unroasted varieties, and packaged in green or turquoise, representing the fertile soil and sea from which the ingredients are sourced. YYTZ sells its ‘More than Cashews’ brand online and in supermarkets across East Africa, Europe, and North America.
Read our full interview with Fahad Awadh: Cashew nut entrepreneur sets up local processing for export-led business
2. German entrepreneur sees potential in Tanzania’s apple market
While fruits like pineapples, bananas, and mangoes flourish in Africa’s equatorial regions, apples are typically less suited to the climate, favouring cooler conditions. However, German-born entrepreneur David Runge identified a unique opportunity in apple farming in East Africa. He invested in Tamu Tamu Tanzania, which describes itself as the region’s first commercial apple farm and nursery, located 540 km west of Dar es Salaam. The company has invested significantly in research and development to cultivate apple varieties that can thrive in an equatorial climate.
The apple farm was originally established in 2016 by two young entrepreneurs who conducted initial R&D to determine apple varieties suited to these conditions. Runge’s current business partner, Peter Schuurs – a family friend – was the first to recognise the farm’s potential and introduced the opportunity to Runge.
Intrigued, Runge conducted his own research and found strong demand for apples in the East African market. “I did my own due diligence. And [whether] if it is in Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania, at every bus stand, in traffic, people would sell apples. At every supermarket you would find apples. And they are sold here for half a dollar a piece. That’s a lot of money,” he explains.
Despite this demand, most apples in the region are imported, and Runge saw an opening to supply the market with locally grown produce.
Watch our full interview with David Runge: Why this German invested in Tanzania’s first commercial apple farm
3. Building a poultry franchise network in Tanzania
Entrepreneur Ann-Elizabeth Swai founded AKM Glitters, a poultry business in Tanzania that operates on a franchise model. Rather than selling chicken meat and eggs directly to consumers, Swai’s company supplies franchisees, or “brooder enterprises” as AKM Glitters calls them, with the inputs and technical support needed to run independent poultry operations.
Based in Dar es Salaam, AKM Glitters equips these franchisees – often smallholder farmers – with a comprehensive package that includes day-old-chicks, feed, vaccines, medications, drinkers, feeders, and guidebooks. The company also offers training and extension services. Franchisees rear the chicks for around four weeks, after which they sell them at a 20-30% profit.
Swai’s journey into poultry farming began during her career at the United Nations, where she started buying day-old-chicks from nearby villages and raising them in her backyard, selling eggs and live chickens for meat. In 2006, she took early retirement and invested her savings to focus on AKM Glitters full-time.
Read our full interview with Ann-Elizabeth Swai: Tanzanian poultry entrepreneur’s innovative franchise model
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