A local startup firm in Uganda called TEXFAD which operates as a waste management group has developed an initiative where banana stems are turned into fibers and then later into biodegradable handicrafts such as hair extensions. The company has proven that banana plants are not just useful for its fruits but also for other purposes.
Uganda has the highest banana consumption rate in the world and is Africa’s top producer. The idea is a fresh one in the East African country that is literally a banana republic. According to statistics from the U.N Food and Agriculture Organization, bananas can contribute up to 25% of the daily calorie intake in rural areas.
TEXFAD has taken advantage of the decapitated stem, which is often left to rot in open fields to extract banana fibre that is later turned into items like hair extension. The consumption of bananas in Uganda is embedded in local customs and traditions. For many indigenes, a meal is complete with a serving of matooke.
According to TEXFAD’s business manager, John Baptist Okello, it makes sense in a country where farmers “are struggling a lot” and have tonnes of banana-related waste. The company has also collaborated with seven different farmers’ groups in west Uganda and pays $2.7 (USD) per kilogram for dried banana fiber.
Aside from its partnership with different farmer’s groups, TEXFAD also takes material from a third party, Tupande Holdings Ltd. which delivers banana stems from central Uganda farmers. The workers at Tupande put in extra effort by sorting through stems and looking for desirable ones. After sorting, machines then process the fiber into tiny threads.
The Team Leader at Tupande, Aggrey Muganga says, “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”. “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,” he further added.
Tupande Holdings Ltd. has more than 60 farmers that supply the raw material and this is only a small fraction of what is available in a country where more than a million hectares are planted with bananas. Over the years, according to data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, banana plantation has risen steadily, growing from 6.5 metric tonnes in 2018 to 8.3 metric tonnes in 2019.
TEXFAD employs more than 30 people at a plant in a village just outside the country’s capital, Kampala, who use their hands to make items from banana fibers. TEXFAD produce or products like rugs and lampshades are exported to Europe; the business manager explains that “banana fiber can be softened to the level of cotton, ” making it possible to produce such items. TEXFAD has also moved ahead to experiment with possible fabrics from banana fibers in collaboration with researchers. It is also designing hair extension products which the company believes could help rid the market of synthetic products.
According to Faith Kabahuma from the company’s hair development programme, all products by TEXFAD are biodegradable, further disclosing that the company’s hair extensions will soon be on the market. “The problem with synthetic fibers is they do so much clogging, like everywhere you go, even if you go to dig in the gardens right now, you would find synthetic fibers around, so it is not environmentally friendly,” she noted.