Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution Programme

GESI

Sustainable textiles through upscaling and commercialisation of banana fibre value addition in East Africa

Uganda ranks among the top ten global producers and consumers of bananas and the highest in Africa, averaging 10 million tonnes annually. However, banana cultivation results in tonnes of post-harvest and processing waste. This Showcase Story highlights the BANATEX EA project which is valorising banana waste through natural fibre production, and assisting rural, marginalised communities in the process.

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How the Ghana Clean-up Project is supporting SMEP’s Social Value Model through tackling plastic pollution

SMEP-funded projects strive to leave no one behind and to facilitate decent work environments (SDG 8) by implementing various interventions, including activities that benefit the entire value chain and support SMEP’s social value model. This feature showcases activities from one SMEP grantee, the Ghana Clean-up Project, that align with SMEP’s social value model by tackling plastic pollution.

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Mananasi Fibre:  An innovative start-up with a gender-friendly workplace ethic

Mananasi Fibre is a start-up based in Thika, Kenya that takes a “hands-on” approach to innovation.  The company’s mission is to transform discarded pineapple leaves into textile-grade fibres, nutrient-rich compost and soil-enhancing products.   Mananasi kicked off site implementation in July 2023 with the help of grant funding from the SMEP Programme.  The focus has been on testing and refining the technologies,

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A nexus of the Kenyan Blue Economy and the SMEP-funded Catchgreen project

Representatives from SMEP and the Catchgreen project, recently traveled to Kenya to observe the piloting of their biodegradable compostable fishing nets used in a local Kenyan seaweed farming initiative as well as in a coral restoration project. Read more here about this remarkable collaboration.

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