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Identity. Impact. Innovation.

About
Kilimora

A research and product development social enterprise closing the gap between African SMEs and global climate finance operating across East Africa.

From Nairobi, we work with researchers, financiers, cooperatives and technologists to close the climate finance gap.

01

A social enterprise built
from the field up

Kilimora is a Kenyan research and product development social enterprise that connects African SMEs to global climate finance through field research, technology products and technical assistance.

1,500+ agri SMEs supported and a 70% drop in MRV cost.

Founded 2022 · Nairobi, Kenya · Operating across East Africa
Kilimora field researchers working with cooperative members in Murang'a County, Kenya

A Research & Product Development
Social Enterprise for the Global South

"The organisations doing the most to restore African ecosystems were consistently excluded from the capital markets designed to reward exactly that work."

Kilimora CLG was founded because impact was never the problem. Organisations lacked the infrastructure, verified evidence and documentation that climate finance requires.

Kilimora exists to close that gap by merging research, product development, technical assistance, and building infrastructure that makes climate finance accessible to those doing the most important work.

Kilimora field work with farmer cooperative engagement Kilimora field work with climate finance infrastructure

Purpose, Mission & Vision

Three interlocking commitments that shape every line of code we write and every cooperative we onboard.

01 · Purpose

We exist to close the gap

Research reveals barriers, products lower them, and technical assistance deploys the products. Field experience then feeds new research.

MRV Infrastructure Climate Finance Technical Assistance
02 · Mission

Deploy integrated systems that empower

To deploy research and product systems that help youth and women led enterprises access climate finance through affordable, verifiable MRV built for low connectivity settings.

Youth Led Women Led Sub Saharan Africa
03 · Vision

A standardised global model

A standardised global model where even a single smallholder plot feeds into formal finance. We are building the infrastructure for it.

Smallholder Access Carbon Markets Just Transition

Principles behind every line of code
and every partnership we build

01

Data Sovereignty

Farmers and enterprises own their data and we act as stewards by designing tools that empower communities and protect their privacy. Control stays with the community, always.

02

Economic Dignity

Climate action must improve livelihoods beyond measured impact. Reliable income to communities doing the environmental work is key to a just transition that lasts.

03

Radical Accessibility

Offline first USSD for feature phones, AI integration for smartphones. No farmer is left outside the system because of their device. Inclusivity is a technical requirement, not an afterthought.

04

Scientific Rigour

Every claim our research generates and every benefit from our interventions are backed by verifiable, dual layer data. We earn the trust of our partners with evidence, not assertions.

05

Co creation

We design solutions with communities by prioritising cooperative economics, local wisdom, and community ownership of outcomes as design principles essential for building interventions that actually hold.

06

Long term Thinking

We measure success in decades through designing systems built to outlast individual projects, and partnerships structured around institutional durability rather than funding cycles.

These principles resonate?

If these values align with how you work, there is a meaningful pathway to collaborate whether you are a funder, researcher, cooperative or enterprise.

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From Insight to Impact

Five milestones that define how Kilimora moved from founding thesis to filed patent.

Q4 2022 · Origin

The Problem Identified

Kilimora CLG is registered in Kenya as a Company Limited by Guarantee. The founding thesis: African SMEs were structurally locked out of the global carbon and climate finance market due to prohibitive verification costs and the absence of accessible measurement infrastructure.

Q3 2024 · Field

The Pilot

Engaging 1,500 farmers across Kenya generating research evidence that AI enabled digital tools could reduce verification costs by 70% while sequestering an estimated 24,000 tonnes of carbon annually across enrolled cooperative farm plots.

Q2 2025 · Recognition

The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship

Selected as a beVisioneers Pioneer Project Scholar, validating the research and product development approach and providing the first structured funding for platform development. AgriKonnekt takes its current form.

Q1 2026 · IP

Patent WFP2026000162 Filed

Provisional patent filed with the Kenya Industrial Property Institute covering the Integrated Climate Wallet System with Dual Verification for Carbon Credit Generation and Trade Access. PCT international filing is in progress.

2026 & Beyond · Scale

Scaling to 7,000 Farmers

Expanding research partnerships with Kenyan universities, scaling AgriKonnekt to 7,000 farmers across Kenya and Uganda, and launching the energy and special programmes advisory tracks to serve a broader portfolio of climate aligned SMEs across East Africa.

Meet Our Team

Six practitioners bringing field research, product engineering, finance, and community development into one cohesive force.

Godfrey Noel
Godfrey Noel
Strategy Lead

A beVisioneers Mercedes-Benz Fellow and UN FAO World Food Forum Youth Representative who has raised over USD 1.2M for startups and NGOs across East Africa. Leads research direction, strategic partnerships, and investor engagement.

LinkedIn
Marylyn Mugure
Marylyn Mugure
Research Lead

A Kenyatta University postgraduate researcher with deep knowledge in developing methodology frameworks grounded in soil science and agricultural systems. Leads MRV methodology, impact measurement, and university research partnerships.

LinkedIn
Matthew Muange
Matthew Muange
Head of Product

A technology practitioner with expertise in humanitarian supply chain technology and platform architecture. Has mobilised funding for building and supporting early stage ventures. Leads AgriKonnekt product development and technical deployment.

LinkedIn
Hildah Gichuru
Hildah Gichuru
Learning & Development

An AAA Kenya Project Officer with extensive experience designing localised capacity building modules for agricultural stakeholders across Kenya. Leads cooperative technical assistance and training programmes.

LinkedIn
Ezra Maruti
Ezra Maruti
Finance Lead

A PwC Senior Auditor with deep expertise in ESG reporting and business plan development. Leads financial management, grant compliance, and investor facing financial documentation across Kilimora's project portfolio.

LinkedIn
Zuhra Nagib
Zuhra Nagib
Risk Assurance Lead

A former AGRA Risk Specialist with advanced assessment techniques for preventing losses, predicting failure points, and building confidence in uncertain operational settings. Leads quality assurance, data governance, and cooperative onboarding compliance.

LinkedIn
02

Technical Assistance, Research & Product Development for Climate Finance Access

Three connected tracks make climate finance accessible: research informs products, deployment raises new research questions, and technical assistance bridges field reality and investor expectations.

Kilimora field operations for climate finance engagement

Three interconnected tracks

01
Track 01

Direct Implementation

We work directly with farmer cooperatives, agri SMEs, and value chain actors to deploy AgriKonnekt (our MRV platform) and build the foundational infrastructure needed to participate in carbon and climate finance markets. This means soil sensing, satellite cross validation, cooperative onboarding, and the full technical stack of environmental accounting at the plot level.

Farmer CooperativesMRV DeploymentCarbon Accounting
02
Track 02

Advisory & Fundraising

We serve climate aligned SMEs, cooperatives, and clean energy enterprises as a technical advisory and fundraising partner. This means grant management, investor documentation, due diligence preparation, and access to grant, equity, and debt capital markets designed specifically for organisations working in low resource African contexts.

Grant StrategyInvestor DocsCapital Access
03
Track 03

Research & Product Dev

Our research programme generates published briefs, methodology frameworks, and evidence syntheses on the structural barriers African SMEs face in accessing climate finance. This research directly powers AgriKonnekt's product roadmap and informs the broader field shared openly through our Newsroom and academic partnerships with Kenyan universities.

Published ResearchMRV MethodologyUniversity Partnerships

Our service portfolio

Grant Strategy & Writing

End to end proposal development for multilateral, bilateral, and philanthropic grant programmes. We build the narrative, the budget, and the logical framework and stay accountable to compliance timelines.

Fundraising Advisory

For equity and debt capital: investor readiness, pitch documentation, due diligence preparation, and active introductions to climate aligned capital providers across early stage and growth mandates.

MRV Methodology Design

Designing and validating measurement, reporting, and verification frameworks that meet international standards while remaining implementable in low resource, low connectivity field environments.

Cooperative Technical Assistance

Onboarding cooperatives onto AgriKonnekt, training farmer facing enumerators, and building institutional capacity for cooperatives to maintain compliance with climate finance programme requirements over time.

Clean Energy Market Advisory

Advisory services for clean energy enterprises (especially in solar and clean cooking) operating in ASAL and underserved markets, including SACCO based credit facilitation and last mile distribution strategy.

Impact Documentation

Building the investor facing evidence layer: impact reports, ESG documentation, annual performance summaries, and the verified data packages that make the difference between a promising project and a fundable one.

Our Platform

The research drives AgriKonnekt

Every brief we publish, every cooperative we onboard, every advisory engagement we run informs the design of AgriKonnekt, our MRV platform connecting smallholder cooperatives to climate finance.

Patent WFP2026000162  ·  Kenya Industrial Property Institute

TechnologyIoT Soil Sensors & Satellite Validation
AccessOffline USSD · AI Smartphones
FinanceM-Pesa Integration · Carbon Wallet
VerifiedAI Credit Scoring · Dual Layer MRV
03

The governance & operational
principles behind every programme

Our governance framework ensures every programme and partnership meets the standards of funders, regulators and the communities we serve.

Governance is how we protect trust, not a compliance exercise. Our policies are living documents, reviewed as our work evolves.

Kilimora governance in practice

Three governance pillars

Pillar 01

Protection & Safeguarding

Comprehensive frameworks protecting beneficiaries, staff, and partners from harm with specific protocols for gender based risks in field environments. Zero tolerance. Always.

Pillar 02

Financial Integrity

Donor grade financial management, anti corruption policies, and procurement standards that meet IFC, UN, and bilateral funder requirements across all active grants and contracts.

Pillar 03

Ethics & Compliance

Operational ethics framework covering data governance, conflict of interest, whistleblower protection, and the standards by which we hold ourselves accountable to partners and beneficiaries alike.