Hadija Jabiri, founder of Tanzanian agribusiness company GBRI
Avocados and apples are the focus of two ventures that show the range of farming opportunities in Tanzania.
Tanzanian entrepreneur builds avocado export business from $300 start
Hadija Jabiri is the founder of GBRI, a Tanzanian agribusiness company that began with vegetables and now exports avocados to Europe and India.
She entered farming after failing to raise investment for a soap manufacturing venture. With less than $300, Jabiri began searching for land in Iringa, a fertile agricultural region in central Tanzania. She found an eight-acre plot but could afford only two acres upfront. The landowners agreed to let her pay off the remaining six acres over two years.
Before planting a single crop, Jabiri had already lined up customers, including supermarkets. Her strategy was clear from the outset: secure the order first, then plant. GBRI started with tomatoes, capsicums and onions. The business generated profits, but everything was reinvested into operations.
As demand grew, the company supplemented its own output by sourcing from nearby smallholder farmers.
Exports to Europe soon followed.
For about two and a half years, the company shipped to Europe using airfreight. But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, freight costs soared. “The numbers were no longer making sense based on the volumes that we had. We were not making a profit,” Jabiri explains.
With costs unsustainable, she shut down operations for eight months. To keep the business alive, she pivoted to bananas. Realising that GBRI’s cold room could be heated and used to ripen bananas, the company began sourcing from smallholder farmers, ripening the fruit on-site and selling it locally.
This continued for about a year, until the pandemic began to ease. Looking to resume exports, the company searched for a crop that didn’t rely on air transport. Avocados, which could be shipped by sea, were the solution.
Today, GBRI sources avocados from more than 10,000 smallholder farmers across Tanzania and neighbouring Burundi. The company has also expanded into avocado oil processing.
Watch our full interview with Hadija Jabiri: The entrepreneur exporting Tanzania’s agricultural products to Europe
From imports to orchards: German entrepreneur invests in apple farm
Every year, East Africa imports apples worth $400 million to $500 million. Despite this substantial demand, apples have traditionally not thrived in the region’s warm climate. German entrepreneur David Runge, however, saw an opportunity in Tanzania, believing there was potential not only to grow apples locally but also to produce apple-based products like juice.
Together with his business partner Peter Schuurs, Runge invested in Tamu Tamu Tanzania, which describes itself as the region’s first commercial apple farm and apple tree nursery, located 540km west of Dar es Salaam.
The farm’s origins date back to 2016, when two young entrepreneurs established it and began researching suitable varieties. Schuurs, a family friend of Runge, was the first to see the potential in acquiring the farm and brought the idea to him. Building on the groundwork of the original owners, the pair rehabilitated the farm, introduced new systems and continued R&D to develop varieties suited to the region
Selling apple trees has since become a key revenue stream, with buyers across Africa and even in South America. Alongside this, the company has expanded into apple-based products, including juice, cider and dried fruit.
Watch our full interview with David Runge: Why this German invested in Tanzania’s first commercial apple farm
