
KOMAZA
Model & Strategy
Low, erratic rainfall and degraded, infertile soil present critical challenges to families living on less than $1/day and struggling to survive as subsistence farmers. Komaza is a social enterprise that works to break this poverty cycle among rural dryland families in East Africa through agroforestry programs. Millions of African families struggle to survive by farming traditional food crops ill-suited to their semi-arid environments. Komaza provides an innovative alternate approach by which families can generate life-changing income through sustainable high-value tree farming. For example, Eucalyptus trees are a drought tolerant, fast growing, pest resistant, highly profitable cash crop. Komaza provides training, planting inputs (such as seedlings, seeds and fertilizers), ongoing maintenance support, logistic consultation in harvesting and sales, and extended financial guidance and business advice.



Tevis Howard’s enthusiasm and vision for KOMAZA grew out of several trips to Kenya doing malaria research in Kilifi, one of the poorest, least-developed and agriculturally inadequate districts in Kenya. He spent 10 years building KOMAZA. Tevis was an award-winning science nerd in his youth, and earned a B.Sc. in Neuroscience from Brown University. He has since been recognized by several leading impact investors and was named as a Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneur. Tevis has also been awarded the Rainer Arnhold Fellowship, the Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellowship and the 2010 Social Venture Network (SVN) Innovation Award for his vision and work with KOMAZA. He has also published articles in several major scientific journals.
IMPACT
Low, erratic rainfall and degraded, infertile soil present critical challenges to families living on less than $1/day struggling to survive as subsistence farmers.
To date, Komaza has planted 5,000 hectares of high-value trees with over 20,000 farmers living in degraded drylands. In 2020, Komaza aims to plant additional 2,000 hectares in Coastal Kenya, while expanding into Central Kenya.
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Thanks @DisruptAfrica for sharing our story! https://t.co/oO4J4aYIBP
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RT @ibrahimthiaw: Drylands are not wastelands. These areas provide a wide range of important benefits to society, including cultural identi…
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RT @MulagoFound: In our first blog, Laura tells a story about @Komaza and why impact investing is failing... #impactinvesting https://t.c…
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RT @StartX: Proud of #StartX company @Komaza for being cited as a great #socialimpact investment! Read more: https://t.co/JgKr7ZCuVX #Stanf…
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RT @ForestsMatter: 'Plant 1 trillion trees to fight climate change' - CNN @GlobalLF @NYDF_Platform https://t.co/Dpqz5KTcWt
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RT @Environment_Ke: Did you know that the forestry sector contributes 3.6% of the national GDP and 70% of the national energy requirements…
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Frank Mars of @MarsGlobal at #IFCagribusiness shared an inspiring vision for how a massive private company can help… https://t.co/NAVfb6oYiv
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RT @MusafirSailing: Our latest community project was building a toilet for the local beach where the Musafir has been moored. In partnershi…
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Thanks for the shoutout @Lever! Our team is working hard to recruit more great colleagues, and we’re all loving the… https://t.co/95ZbsWbDAd
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RT @GlobalLF: #Thinklandscape: A new study released by @restoreforward found that #forest and #land degradation is estimated to cost the wo…
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RT @iTevis: Beware plantations seeking investment from average people on the street, promising great returns. If legit, these projects coul…
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We too have noticed flexibility is key for building a successful career at Komaza. Growth-stage startups are fun, b… https://t.co/l1tAGtjmjq
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RT @mulagostarr: Electricity doesn’t make the poor less poor. And it almost certainly screws up their sleep. https://t.co/mahbts9ome
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Don’t lower the bar - the emergence of African unicorns is not far off! Their success will transform future capital… https://t.co/1ov4OBSNdo
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The Harvest team shares stories from the field about paying our farmers for trees! 🌱🌿🌳💰 @ Kilifi https://t.co/3M2VRL4no9
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RT @WWFForestCarbon: "In the face of a #changing climate and related mass migration and social instability, international experts are now v…
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Our home county of Kilifi just outlawed #charcoal trading. We applaud the bold intent to curb #deforestation! Enfor… https://t.co/VEfAzsJuMb
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Congrats @climatefinlab! Huge milestone. We’re excited to have kicked off working with you, and we look forward to… https://t.co/AuGvSk9YIC