diff --git a/cmd/kaf/consume.go b/cmd/kaf/consume.go
index 12cf99bc..d307241c 100644
--- a/cmd/kaf/consume.go
+++ b/cmd/kaf/consume.go
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ var consumeCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short:             "Consume messages",
 	Args:              cobra.ExactArgs(1),
 	ValidArgsFunction: validTopicArgs,
-	PreRun:            setupProtoDescriptorRegistry,
+	PreRun:            consumePreRun,
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		var offset int64
 		cfg := getConfig()
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@ var consumeCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	},
 }
 
+func consumePreRun(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+	loadProtoPathsFromConfig(cmd, args)
+	setupProtoDescriptorRegistry(cmd, args)
+}
+
 type g struct{}
 
 func (g *g) Setup(s sarama.ConsumerGroupSession) error {
diff --git a/cmd/kaf/kaf.go b/cmd/kaf/kaf.go
index e435d538..e6f11a1e 100644
--- a/cmd/kaf/kaf.go
+++ b/cmd/kaf/kaf.go
@@ -173,6 +173,22 @@ func init() {
 	cobra.OnInitialize(onInit)
 }
 
+var loadProtoPathsFromConfig = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+	protoFiles = cfg.GlobalProtoPaths
+	for _, topic := range cfg.Topics {
+		if topic.Name == args[0] {
+			if protoType == "" {
+				protoType = topic.ValueProtoType
+			}
+			if keyProtoType == "" {
+				keyProtoType = topic.KeyProtoType
+			}
+			protoFiles = append(protoFiles, topic.ProtoPaths...)
+			break
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 var setupProtoDescriptorRegistry = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	if protoType != "" {
 		r, err := proto.NewDescriptorRegistry(protoFiles, protoExclude)
diff --git a/cmd/kaf/produce.go b/cmd/kaf/produce.go
index 255e6063..48b1a3a7 100644
--- a/cmd/kaf/produce.go
+++ b/cmd/kaf/produce.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ var produceCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short:             "Produce record. Reads data from stdin.",
 	Args:              cobra.ExactArgs(1),
 	ValidArgsFunction: validTopicArgs,
-	PreRun:            setupProtoDescriptorRegistry,
+	PreRun:            producePreRun,
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		cfg := getConfig()
 		switch partitionerFlag {
@@ -319,3 +319,8 @@ func (e *InputFormat) Type() string {
 func completeInputFormat(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, toComplete string) ([]string, cobra.ShellCompDirective) {
 	return []string{"default", "json-each-row"}, cobra.ShellCompDirectiveNoFileComp
 }
+
+func producePreRun(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+	loadProtoPathsFromConfig(cmd, args)
+	setupProtoDescriptorRegistry(cmd, args)
+}
diff --git a/examples/proto-types.yaml b/examples/proto-types.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c6343fc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/proto-types.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+clusters:
+  - name: local
+    brokers:
+      - localhost:9092
+global-proto-paths:
+  - /path_to_proto_files/global_proto_storage
+topics:
+  - name: topic1
+    value-proto-type: local.ProtoType1
+    key-proto-type: local.KeyType1
+    proto-paths:
+      - /path_to_proto_files/local_proto_storage # appends to global-proto-paths
+  - name: topic2
+    value-proto-type: local.ProtoType2
diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index 698ee07b..0f0d36e7 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -44,10 +44,19 @@ type Cluster struct {
 	SchemaRegistryCredentials *SchemaRegistryCredentials `yaml:"schema-registry-credentials"`
 }
 
+type Topic struct {
+	Name           string   `yaml:"name"`
+	ValueProtoType string   `yaml:"value-proto-type"`
+	KeyProtoType   string   `yaml:"key-proto-type"`
+	ProtoPaths     []string `yaml:"proto-paths"`
+}
+
 type Config struct {
-	CurrentCluster  string `yaml:"current-cluster"`
-	ClusterOverride string
-	Clusters        []*Cluster `yaml:"clusters"`
+	CurrentCluster   string `yaml:"current-cluster"`
+	ClusterOverride  string
+	Clusters         []*Cluster `yaml:"clusters"`
+	GlobalProtoPaths []string   `yaml:"global-proto-paths"`
+	Topics           []Topic    `yaml:"topics"`
 }
 
 func (c *Config) SetCurrentCluster(name string) error {