Current:Home > MyA Ugandan business turns banana fiber into sustainable handicrafts-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
A Ugandan business turns banana fiber into sustainable handicrafts
View Date:2024-12-24 00:40:23
MUKONO, Uganda (AP) — A decapitated banana plant is almost useless, an inconvenience to the farmer who must then uproot it and lay its dismembered parts as mulch.
But can such stems somehow be returned to life? Yes, according to a Ugandan company that’s buying banana stems in a business that turns fiber into attractive handicrafts.
The idea is innovative as well as sustainable in the East African country. Uganda has the highest banana consumption rate in the world and is Africa’s top producer of the crop. Especially in rural areas, bananas can contribute up to 25% of the daily calorie intake, according to figures from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
In Uganda, eating bananas is in many ways embedded in local customs and tradition; for many a meal is incomplete without a serving of matooke, the local word for the starchy boiled mush made from banana cultivars harvested and cooked raw.
To harvest the crop, the stem must be decapitated, and in the largest plantations the scene can seem violent after a bumper harvest. The stems inevitably rot in open fields.
But local startup TEXFAD, which describes itself as a waste management group, is now taking advantage of this abundance of rotting stems to extract banana fiber that’s turned into items that would include hair extensions for women.
John Baptist Okello, TEXFAD’s business manager, told The Associated Press that the business made sense in a country where farmers “are struggling a lot” with millions of tons of banana-related waste. The company, which collaborates with seven different farmers’ groups in western Uganda, pays $2.70 for a kilogram (more than two pounds) of dried fiber.
David Bangirana, the leader of one such group in the western Ugandan district of Sheema, said only a small part of the inner stem of a decapitated plant is harvested for fiber. And the “residue is returned after machine work to the farmer for use as manure,” he said.
His group is working to build capacity to make finished products, he said.
TEXFAD also takes material from a third party, Tupande Holdings Ltd., whose trucks deliver banana stems from farmers in central Uganda. Tupande’s workers sort through the stems, looking for desirable ones. Machines then turn the fiber into tiny threads.
Aggrey Muganga, the team leader at Tupande Holdings Ltd., said his company deals with more than 60 farmers who continuously supply abundant raw material.
That number is only a small fraction of what’s available in a country where more than a million hectares (nearly 2.5 million acres) are planted with bananas. Banana production has been rising steadily over the years, growing from 6.5 metric tons in 2018 to 8.3 metric tons in 2019, according to figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
“We extract fiber threads from the sheaths of the stem … So our contribution in the value chain is that we put extra income in the hands of the farmer. We turn this waste into something valuable that we sell to our partners who also make things,” Muganga said.
At a plant in a village just outside Kampala, the Ugandan capital, TEXFAD employs more than 30 people who use their hands to make unique and often attractive items from banana fiber. The rugs and lampshades they produce are especially attractive to customers, with the company now exporting some products to Europe.
Such items are possible because “banana fiber can be softened to the level of cotton,” Okello said.
Working with researchers, TEXFAD is now experimenting with possible fabric from banana fiber. While it is now possible to make paper towels and sanitary pads from banana fiber, the company doesn’t yet have the technology to make clothing, he said.
The company also is designing hair extension products it believes will help rid the market of synthetic products seen as harmful to the environment.
All products by TEXFAD are biodegradable, said Faith Kabahuma, of the company’s banana hair development program, describing hair extensions that have done well in tests and soon will be available on the market.
“The problem with synthetic fiber, they do so much clogging like everywhere you go; even if you go to dig in the gardens right now you will find synthetic fiber around,” she said.
___
Rodney Muhumuza reported from Kampala.
veryGood! (619)
Related
- What is best start in NBA history? Five teams ahead of Cavaliers' 13-0 record
- A National Tour Calling for a Reborn and Ramped Up Green New Deal Lands in Pittsburgh
- Crystal Kung Minkoff on wearing PJs in public, marriage tips and those 'ugly leather pants'
- Prince Harry was not unfairly stripped of UK security detail after move to US, judge rules
- Gerry Faust, former Notre Dame football coach, dies at 89
- At lyrics trial, Don Henley recounts making Eagles classic Hotel California and says he was not a drug-filled zombie
- Climate Takes a Back Seat in High-Profile California Primary Campaigns. One Candidate Aims to Change That
- How to help elderly parents from a distance: Tech can ease logistical, emotional burden
- US Election Darkens the Door of COP29 as It Opens in Azerbaijan
- Drew Barrymore's 1995 Playboy cover comes back to haunt her with daughter's sass
Ranking
- Katherine Schwarzenegger Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 3 With Chris Pratt
- Family Dollar's rat-infested warehouse, damaged products, lead to $41.6 million fine
- Washington man to plead guilty in 'killing spree' of 3,600 birds, including bald eagles
- Leap day deals 2024: Get discounts and free food from Wendy's, Chipotle, Krispy Kreme, more
- Brianna LaPaglia Addresses Zach Bryan's Deafening Silence After Emotional Abuse Allegations
- After Fighting Back a Landfill Expansion, Houston Residents Await EPA Consideration of Stricter Methane Regulations
- 1 person injured when Hawaii tour helicopter crashes on remote Kauai beach
- Kids play hockey more skillfully and respectfully than ever, yet rough stuff still exists on the ice
Recommendation
-
4 charged in Detroit street shooting that left 2 dead, 5 wounded
-
Toyota recalls 381,000 Tacoma pickup trucks to fix potential crash risk
-
Prince Harry was not unfairly stripped of UK security detail after move to US, judge rules
-
Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch this season after major elbow surgery, but he can still hit. Here’s why
-
Oprah Winfrey Addresses Claim She Was Paid $1 Million by Kamala Harris' Campaign
-
Alabama House advances bill to give state money for private and home schooling
-
Boeing given 90 days by FAA to come up with a plan to improve safety and quality of manufacturing
-
Chrysler recalling more than 330,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees due to steering wheel issue