Since 2015
Built to back the smallholder.
Ethical Holdings (Pvt) Ltd is the brainchild of two social entrepreneurs, David and Thomas Machingaidze. ELT is its contract-farming and agri-finance arm: a privately held Zimbabwean group with one purpose, improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
Where it all started
EH is a privately held diversified agricultural group, incorporated in Zimbabwe, with core products and services in agriculture plus operations in financial services, insurance and property investment. "Rukudzo Kumurimi", respect to the farmer.
Vision
To become Africa's agribusiness unicorn.
Mission
With passion, we improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
The Five E's
People who know the leaf
David Machingaidze, CEO
A social entrepreneur whose passion is to realise the empowerment of the smallholder tobacco farmer through service excellence. A Harvard Business School and MIT alumnus, holding a degree in Accounting Science.
Tyson Ngongoni, GM
An experienced executive across agriculture and logistics, with an MBA from NUST and 10+ years leading contract-farming operations in cotton and tobacco, consistently creating value for the business.
Why it works
Farmers trust people, not paperwork. Our team lives the crop cycle beside them.
The ELT Farmer Layer
The whole cycle, in the farmer's pocket
We are turning the way ELT works into something every financed farmer can hold. A single phone view: where you are in the season, what comes next, and what you will be paid.
Every financier says "we support farmers." Almost none give the farmer a window into their own finance.
This screen is a working mock of where the Farmer Layer goes: a phone-first record of the financed season, paired with the WhatsApp and USSD application flow. It operationalises ELT's only real edge, de-risking the smallholder, and makes it self-serve on the handset the farmer already owns.
Try the live tier checkRespect to the farmer
Rukudzo Kumurimi.
That is the whole idea. If you grow tobacco in Zimbabwe, there is a place for you in the cycle.