diff --git a/internal/pkg/afrouterd/discoveryMonitor.go b/internal/pkg/afrouterd/discoveryMonitor.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fab6ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/pkg/afrouterd/discoveryMonitor.go
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2018-present Open Networking Foundation
+
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package afrouterd
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/ptypes"
+	"github.com/opencord/voltha-go/common/log"
+	"github.com/opencord/voltha-go/kafka"
+	pb "github.com/opencord/voltha-protos/go/afrouter"
+	ic "github.com/opencord/voltha-protos/go/inter_container"
+	"golang.org/x/net/context"
+	"regexp"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func newKafkaClient(clientType string, host string, port int, instanceID string) (kafka.Client, error) {
+	log.Infow("kafka-client-type", log.Fields{"client": clientType})
+	switch clientType {
+	case "sarama":
+		return kafka.NewSaramaClient(
+			kafka.Host(host),
+			kafka.Port(port),
+			kafka.ConsumerType(kafka.GroupCustomer),
+			kafka.ProducerReturnOnErrors(true),
+			kafka.ProducerReturnOnSuccess(true),
+			kafka.ProducerMaxRetries(6),
+			kafka.NumPartitions(3),
+			kafka.ConsumerGroupName(instanceID),
+			kafka.ConsumerGroupPrefix(instanceID),
+			kafka.AutoCreateTopic(false),
+			kafka.ProducerFlushFrequency(5),
+			kafka.ProducerRetryBackoff(time.Millisecond*30)), nil
+	}
+	return nil, errors.New("unsupported-client-type")
+}
+
+func monitorDiscovery(kc kafka.Client, ctx context.Context, client pb.ConfigurationClient, ch <-chan *ic.InterContainerMessage, doneCh chan<- struct{}) {
+	defer close(doneCh)
+	defer kc.Stop()
+
+monitorLoop:
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			break monitorLoop
+		case msg := <-ch:
+			log.Debug("Received a device discovery notification")
+			device := &ic.DeviceDiscovered{}
+			if err := ptypes.UnmarshalAny(msg.Body, device); err != nil {
+				log.Errorf("Could not unmarshal received notification %v", msg)
+			} else {
+				// somewhat hackish solution, backend is known from the first digit found in the publisher name
+				group := regexp.MustCompile(`\d`).FindString(device.Publisher)
+				if group != "" {
+					// set the affinity of the discovered device
+					setAffinity(ctx, client, device.Id, afrouterRWClusterName+group)
+				} else {
+					log.Error("backend is unknown")
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func StartDiscoveryMonitor(ctx context.Context, client pb.ConfigurationClient) (<-chan struct{}, error) {
+	doneCh := make(chan struct{})
+	// Connect to kafka for discovery events
+	kc, err := newKafkaClient(kafkaClientType, kafkaHost, kafkaPort, kafkaInstanceID)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	for {
+		if err := kc.Start(); err != nil {
+			log.Error("Could not connect to kafka")
+		} else {
+			break
+		}
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			close(doneCh)
+			return doneCh, errors.New("GRPC context done")
+
+		case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
+		}
+	}
+	ch, err := kc.Subscribe(&kafka.Topic{Name: kafkaTopic})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("Could not subscribe to the '%s' channel, discovery disabled", kafkaTopic)
+		close(doneCh)
+		kc.Stop()
+		return doneCh, err
+	}
+
+	go monitorDiscovery(kc, ctx, client, ch, doneCh)
+	return doneCh, nil
+}