As the founder of Kilimo Round Table Africa (KRTA) and Mwana Wa Africa Investment Company (MWA), Ms Magoiga has emerged as a vital bridge between the soil and the boardroom
Dar es Salaam. With over 20 years of experience in the fertiliser value chain industry, the founder of Kilimo Round Table Africa (KRTA), a platform born from a desire to give back to the agricultural community, Rhoda Magoiga is not just building businesses, she is rewriting the rules of the agricultural industry.
A founder, a policymaker’s bridge to the farmer, and a farmer’s champion in the boardrooms, Ms Magoiga wears different hats, including chairman of TCCIA Agribusiness Ubungo District and vice chairman of the Tanzania Agro Dealer Association Northern and Southern Highlands.
“I saw a gap where high-level decisions were being made without the direct input of the farmers whose lives those decisions shape. KRTA was born to provide a locally grown voice in a space previously dominated by international NGOs. It serves as a vital bridge, ensuring policy education reaches the ground, and farmer concerns reach the boardroom.”
She said KRTA provides capacity building in agricultural best practices, financial management, mental health, and policy education, serving as a vital bridge between policymakers and the farmers whose lives their decisions shape.
“My journey is rooted in over two decades of deep expertise built across Tanzania’s fertiliser value chain. Before going independent in 2019, I spent years mastering the complexities of agricultural inputs. I learned that the industry is more about the people than just supply,” she said.
Ms Magoiga said the move to become independent came after she recognized the need for a more localised and independent approach to agricultural inputs, moving from being an expert within a system to a professional who could independently shape and improve that system.
This led to the incorporation of Mwana Wa Africa Investment Company (MWA) in 2023, formalising a vision of inclusive and deliberate growth.
In just three years, MWA has become one of Tanzania’s fastest-growing agricultural companies, serving over 200,000 farmers through a network of 800 agro dealers and eighteen outlets across the country with a deliberate and inclusive growth plan.
Currently, 90 percent of the company’s staff are under 30 years old, and 70 percent are women.
“This proved that our model wasn’t just a business transaction; it was a structural shift in how agricultural inputs reach the hands of those who need them most,” she said.
She founded MWA to address the fertiliser industry, which for a long time has been male-dominated, leaving women leaders as the exception. She was determined to prove that inclusion is not charity but a high-level strategy.
When asked about the most strategic decision behind MWA’s growth, she said the most strategic move was the deliberate investment in youth and women by hiring a workforce where 90 percent of staff are under 30 years old.
“We tapped into a demographic that is often overlooked but brings immense energy and innovation. This focus on people-first growth is what allowed us to scale to 18 outlets nationwide so quickly,” she said.
This is when she realised she was not just building a business, but shaping an industry where women leaders remain the exception, building her company into living proof that inclusion is not charity; it is strategy.
In introducing young women into a traditionally male-dominated fertiliser industry, she said the sector carries significant financial challenges and is often viewed through a traditional male-centric lens. Thriving in this environment has been a battle, but she has consistently used vision to challenge these traditions.
Her success with MWA serves as living proof that a woman-led, youth-driven company can outperform traditional competitors. Ms Magoiga’s leadership style is inclusive, strategic, and rooted in the belief that investing in people, specifically youth and women, is the only way to achieve sustainable industry transformation.
In her leadership journey, she has received several awards, including the EAC Agribusiness Award from Kenya and the Best Fertiliser Supplier of the Year Coast Zone from the Tanzania Regulatory Authority, both in 2024, as well as the CEO Award 2025 from ACOYA.
“These awards validate our model. They prove that a company focused on inclusion and localized expertise can achieve regional excellence. For MWA, this recognition translates into deeper trust from our 200,000 farmers and increased credibility when we speak to policymakers,” said Ms Magoiga.
Ms Magoiga mentors and builds confidence among young women entering agribusiness by leading by example and showing that agriculture is aesthetic. By creating a corporate environment where women hold the majority of roles, mentorship happens naturally through daily excellence. She encourages them to see themselves not just as workers, but as champions for the farmers they serve.
She says policies that focus on capacity building and financial management specifically tailored for women are needed to accelerate agricultural transformation in Tanzania.
Her message to a young girl from a rural farming family is to believe that agriculture is not a last resort but a field of beauty and opportunity. “As we say, Tunarembesha Kilimo, meaning we are making agriculture beautiful. Her future in this industry is not just as a labourer, but as a leader, a business owner, and a champion for her community,” she said.
Ms Magoiga is building a legacy where the Tanzanian agricultural industry is defined by its local voices and its inclusion of women and youth.
“I want to be remembered as the bridge that connected the farmer to the policymaker and proved that when you empower women and believe in youth, an entire industry transforms,” she said.
