Integrated Agri-Logistics Platform — East Africa

The Integrated Agri-Logistics Platform targets the development of a multi-modal hub connecting smallholder aggregation networks, cold-chain storage, and export gateway infrastructure across Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia — three of East Africa’s highest-volume agricultural producing markets.

Platform Overview

The platform anchors on three strategically located cold-chain hubs — each positioned within 80km of a major agricultural production zone — connected by a proprietary digital aggregation layer that onboards smallholder farmers via mobile and connects them directly to certified export buyers. The combination creates bidirectional price transparency that neither smallholders nor buyers currently have access to.

Infrastructure Components

• Cold-chain hubs (3 sites) — 14,000 pallet-positions of temperature-controlled storage at Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, and Addis Ababa nodes, with 72-hour guaranteed throughput SLAs to export buyers.
• Farmer aggregation network — targeting 75,000 registered smallholders across 3 countries within 36 months of hub commissioning, using mobile-first onboarding and mobile money settlement.
• Export certification lane — embedded GlobalGAP and EU Organic certification support, enabling produce to enter premium export channels that were previously inaccessible to smallholders.
• Data intelligence layer — real-time crop availability, pricing, and logistics status data sold as a subscription service to commodity traders, insurance providers, and development finance institutions.

“The constraint in East African agriculture is not production — it is the infrastructure that sits between the farmer and the export market. We are building that infrastructure.”

— Madad Agriculture Investment Committee, 2025

Market Entry Strategy

Phase 1 launches with the Nairobi hub as the flagship, leveraging Kenya’s existing export certification infrastructure and the most mature fresh produce export ecosystem in the sub-region. Dar es Salaam and Addis Ababa hubs follow in months 12 and 24, with farmer network portability across hubs from day one.

Key Performance Metrics

• Hub utilisation — target 70% average cold-chain utilisation by month 18; unit economics positive at 55%
• Post-harvest loss rate — reduction from the regional average of 32% to a platform target of sub-10% by year 3
• Farmer income uplift — target 22–28% net farm-gate price improvement for registered smallholders through direct export channel access

For the research basis behind this investment thesis, read Madad’s Nile Basin agri-logistics insight.