Given that bananas are one of the world’s most wasteful crops, and that Uganda is the world’s leading producer of bananas, second only to India, a Uganda startup is making a big contribution to solving that by turning banana waste into textiles.

When farmers lop off bananas from the trees, they generally leave the bulky, bulbous trunks to decompose and waste away. TexFad is extracting the fibres from parts of the trunks that farmers usually burn or throw away.

“When I looked around I saw that bananas grow abundantly in this country … we generate a lot of waste from the banana gardens,” said Kimani Muturi, TexFad’s managing director and founder. “Banana fibre is the fibre of the future,” he says. He reckons the light, organic material could replace some synthetic fibres and be used to make paper products like bank notes among a range of possible applications.

Over the years, TexFad has made all kinds of products with banana fibers, including: rugs, clocks, eyeglass cases, lampshades, coasters, clothing, bags, and blankets. The banana fibre yarn can also be used in other kinds of crafts, like knitting and crocheting.

Business has grown steadily since the company was founded in 2013, and began exporting carpets to customers in the US, Canadia and the UK in 2021. It employs 30 people at its factory outside Kampala.

TexFad also runs a Skills Training Academy that is accredited by the country’s Directorate of Industrial Training.

As well as collaborating with seven different farmers’ groups in western Uganda, paying $2.7 (USD) per-kilogram of dried fibre, TexFad buys fibre from Tupande Holdings Ltd., whose trucks deliver banana stems from more than 60 central Uganda farmers. Tupande’s workers sort through stems, and then machines turn the desirable ones into tiny threads.

“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 that they can sell,” says Tupande team leader Aggrey Muganga. “We are doing this to create extra income, to create employment for ourselves, and to contribute to the industrialization of Uganda and betterment of the lives of Ugandans.”

There’s definitely room for expansion because in Uganda, more than a million hectares are planted with bananas.

Sources:

Uganda-Based Company Is Transforming Banana Stems From Waste Into Sustainable Fabric. Green Matters, Nov. 7 2023

Uganda start-up bets big on banana waste Reuters, Apr 16, 2021

Going Bananas For TEXFAD! Oxford Student, Nov 5, 2023

Ugandans turning banana wastes into useful fibres Africa News,

Cover image and photos: TEXFAD