Hadija Jabiri manages two agribusinesses focused on helping farmers in Tanzania cultivate better crops, access larger markets, and increase their earnings.
Jabiri didn’t grow up on a farm but observed her mother running small businesses with determination. Years later, equipped with two business degrees and over a decade of corporate experience, she exchanged boardrooms for green fields. This transition led to the founding of GBRI Business Solutions, now recognised by its consumer-facing brand, EatFresh.
Jabiri launches EatFresh to empower more women
EatFresh specialises in growing, processing, and exporting high-demand vegetables such as French beans, snow peas, sugar snaps, baby corn, tomatoes, leafy greens, and capsicums.
The business began in 2015 as an eight-acre pilot farm in Iringa and has since expanded into a robust network encompassing 40 acres in Kiwele and 10 in Kilolo, and partnerships with over 7,000 smallholder farmers in Njombe and Mbeya. Among these, more than 5,000 are under contract, and an additional 107 banana farmers are included through an out-grower scheme that prioritises quality and fair access to markets.
EatFresh links Tanzanian farmers to global markets in the UK, Ireland, and India. It also supports local communities by providing farmers with technical training, input loans, and cold chain infrastructure to meet international standards.
More than 90% of EatFresh’s peak-season workforce comprises women who have developed agricultural expertise, leadership skills, and financial independence that positively impact households and communities.
Jabiri’s second venture, Agriedo Limited, has the same goal but offers a different twist. Agriedo is an agritech consultancy hub dedicated to supporting youth-led agricultural enterprises. Its incubation centre provides coaching, business development services, access to essential networks and technical expertise.
Agriedo assists young agripreneurs in transforming their ideas into impactful ventures, fostering a new generation of tech-savvy, market-aware, and socially conscious agricultural changemakers. The serial entrepreneur has further invested in cold storage, agro-logistics, and sustainable fertiliser solutions to enhance impact and expand reach, particularly into Middle Eastern markets.
Jabiri’s work has received widespread recognition. She is an alumna of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), a recipient of the Feed the Future GroWe Award, and a finalist for the UNCTAD EMPRETEC Women in Business Award. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in Public Health through a joint program with Maseno University and the University of California,
