Building a large-scale agribusiness in Africa
By Jacob Stewart ’25 JD, MBA
When I arrived at Kellogg, I had a clear objective: to build a large-scale agribusiness in Kenya. I also understood that achieving that goal would require more than just ambition, I needed to fully leverage my time at Kellogg to develop the skills, relationships and resources necessary to turn an idea into a real company.
Having spent much of my life traveling to Kenya, I had seen a disconnect that didn’t make sense. Farmers struggled to sell surplus produce in local markets, while consumers abroad faced high prices and limited supply. The issue was not a lack of agricultural knowledge; it was a broken supply chain.
I understood the problem. But as a former infantry officer in the United States Army, I also knew I didn’t yet have the technical expertise, business training or capital required to solve it.
Kellogg became the place where that idea turned into a company.
Today, Avocado Farm Trade (AFT) operates a 400-acre flagship avocado farm in Kenya and works with a rapidly expanding network of over 200 smallholder farmers. We have raised more than $2 million in initial funding, onboarded hundreds of farmers and built a system designed to connect African producers to international markets at scale.
But this didn’t happen because of one founder. It happened because of a community.
AFT was built alongside three original co-founders from Kellogg, more than 400 employees in Kenya, and a network of investors, advisors and partners. We have also worked closely with organizations such as Fair Oils, One Acre Fund and Sanergy to develop a world-class flagship farm and expand access to markets and inputs for smallholder farmers.
A business built by MBA students
One of the most distinctive aspects of AFT is how deeply it has been shaped by the Kellogg community.
From the earliest stages, classmates played an active role in refining the business model, pressure-testing assumptions and building key components of the company. Whether working through go-to-market strategy, structuring financing or preparing investor materials, Kellogg students were not just advisors; they were contributors.
My JD-MBA Program classmates Sam Rubinroit ’25, Ben Wideman ’25 and Brittany Oliveira ’25 joined early as co-founders, investing both capital and significant time, including traveling to Kenya to help build the business on the ground. That experience reinforced an important lesson: building alongside a team with diverse perspectives and complementary skills is far more valuable than trying to do it alone.
Other program classmates, including Hannia Hafeez ’25, Jackson Gilliam ’25, Will Adams ’25, Colin Thompson ’25 and Jacob Greenberg ’25 provided critical feedback on pitch decks and investor materials. Hafeez and Lou Jacobs ’25 went a step further and invested directly in the company. The level of conviction from peers who had a front-row seat to the business was both validating and instrumental in helping us get off the ground.
Non-dilutive capital that changed everything
Like many early-stage ventures, AFT faced moments where timing gaps between funding rounds created real operational pressure. Kellogg played a critical role in helping us bridge those gaps.
Through grants and venture funding opportunities, we were able to access non-dilutive capital at key moments, allowing us to continue operations, invest in infrastructure and maintain momentum.
Our first support came through a Levy Grant, which funded initial fieldwork in Kenya to better understand the value chain and identify where AFT could create the most impact. We then received quarterly funding through the Social Impact and Sustainability program, which helped us steadily build toward an investor-ready business.
Additional support included a summer stipend that allowed me to work in Kenya full-time, as well as selection into the Zell Fellows Program, where we received both funding and mentorship alongside a cohort of high-growth founders. Finally, receiving the 2025 Social Impact & Sustainability Entrepreneur of the Year award provided meaningful capital to support our first year of operations post-graduation.
The school’s approach to funding is uniquely effective; it aligns support with where founders are in their journey, enabling them to build real traction before seeking institutional capital. This is especially important in sectors like agriculture, where long production cycles require patience, proof of concept and early-stage resilience.
In emerging markets, where execution timelines are often unpredictable, that kind of flexible capital can make the difference between stalling and scaling. For AFT, it did exactly that.
Learning from investors in the classroom
One of the more unexpected advantages of building AFT at Kellogg was proximity to investors, not just in pitch settings, but in the classroom.
Tom McDonough, our lead investor, teaches Private Equity at Northwestern Law School. The dynamic fundamentally shaped how we approached building the business. It created a level of alignment and long-term thinking that goes beyond a typical investor-founder relationship.
Tom invested in AFT at a very early stage and has been a patient and committed partner. Beyond capital, he has played a key role in helping us refine our strategy, think through long-term decisions and connect with additional investors.
More broadly, the Kellogg ecosystem enabled continuous interaction with investors, operators, and advisors. The feedback loop was immediate; what we learned in class could be applied directly to the business and the challenges we faced in building the company sharpened how we engaged academically.
Since launching, AFT has scaled rapidly.
We have distributed more than 7,000 avocado seedlings to farmers, built a nursery capable of producing over 60,000 seedlings annually, and created more than 400 jobs across our operations. At the same time, we are scaling commercial production through our 400-acre flagship farm, with plans for a second farm and an expanded, state-of-the-art nursery already underway.
None of this would have been possible without the Kellogg network.
Kellogg did more than provide an education; it created a platform for action. It brought together people willing to contribute time, capital and belief. It fostered an environment where building something real alongside an academic program was not only possible but encouraged.
Community as a catalyst
There is a common narrative that entrepreneurship is an individual pursuit. My experience at Kellogg suggests the opposite.
The most impactful companies, especially those addressing complex and global challenges, are built by communities. AFT is a direct reflection of that reality. It is the product of classmates who stepped in, institutions that provided meaningful support and a network that believed in what we were building before it was proven.
As we continue to scale, that foundation remains one of our greatest advantages. And it all started at Kellogg.
My advice to MBA students and entrepreneurship
If you’re a student considering building something, the advice is simple:
- Put in the work.
- Use the ecosystem around you.
- Ask for help.
- Build with your peers.
- Take advantage of every resource available.
You may be surprised how far it can take you.
Read next: Announcing the 2026 Youn Impact Scholars — here’s what they have to say
The One Acre Fund was founded in 2006 by Andrew Youn and a group of classmates while they were pursuing their MBAs at Kellogg. The non-profit, which provides farming equipment, seed financing and training to millions of smallholder farmers in Africa, was directly incubated as a student business plan.
Kellogg offers exceptional programs, resources and community support, including the Matt Caldwell Veterans Program, designed to empower military veterans as they advance their leadership and careers with an MBA.
The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Kellogg School of Management or Northwestern University.