ABITC, NARO, and Bio Jigsaw Ltd has formed a Consortium  to help banana farmers venture into organic hair production

 

NAIROBI, Kenya/ ABITC, (www.abitc.org), NARO, (www.naro.go.ug),  has formed a Consortium with Bio Jigsaw Limited, www.biojigsaw.com), to help banana farmers add value to their product through organic hair production.

 

Banana as considered to be added on Agricultural food Value Chains (VCs), should well gaining importance as part of broader efforts to achieve food security and improve nutrition, as well as transforming agriculture in Africa and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

With an increased focus on inputs, markets, financing, agribusiness, and agro-industry, the prospects of commercialization for smallholder farmers will likely expand and involve all major staple foods, including bananas.

 

Bio Jigsaw Limited, the Technical arm of the Consortium, has been researching into what bio products can add value to farming and practices that not only protect environmental health, but also strive to improve it.

 

It found out that Banana fiber can be used to produce various by-products such as the organic hair extensions, paper, as well as home textile items due to its characteristics, and at the same time, the environment is protected.

 

We tested the strength of the Banana fiber if used to make organic hair

extensions and replace the Synthetic Hair Extensions. The test proved very promising and it has excellent potential for export to many countries which are well known for producing Synthetic Hair.

 

As the marketplace changes and with increased competition and a shift in consumer tastes, introducing Organic Hair products will compete well with both Synthetic, and Natural Hair.

 

The shift from Synthetic Hair to Organic hair is referred to as the natural hair movement. It is the source of many of the potentially major changes that is likely to occur in the hair extension industry and market worldwide.

Demand for Organic hair extension and wigs made from Banana Fiber has increased in the tested market of Uganda, in the African Communities in Europe, and is likely to grow steadily with increasing demand for hair extensions worldwide.

 

Organic Hair enables flexibility in terms of styling, washing, treating, coloring and is bio-degradable.

 

Banana fiber is natural with high strength which can be treated well to get any organic hair length, or to produce fabric and textiles.

 

Banana Fiber also finds use in high quality security or currency paper, packaging cloth for agriculture produce, ships towing ropes and wet drilling cables.

 

The banana plant has long been a source of fiber for high quality textiles. In Japan, banana cultivation for clothing and house hold use dates back to at least the 13th century.

 

The use of Banana fiber for organic hair is a new concept for Uganda and the world at large.

 

Uganda has several banana species and at least 10 of them have been

tested and the results were very positive. We have designed a local banana fiber extraction method to help in the production line, cleaning, grading and converting it up to the finished readymade organic hair as one of the ways of introducing a new Rural Sustainable Economic Development Project.

 

Presently, waste banana stems pose problems of disposal to the large-scale farmers and are a waste product from the banana harvest available almost free of cost in Uganda.

 

However, the use of Organic Hair made from Banana fiber in commercial production is still to gear up to be able to meet the cosumer demands. It is currently done as a cottage business in our residence in Buziga, in Kampala District.

 

Banana fiber offers excellent potential in terms of its eco-friendly nature and properties as

compared to other natural and man-made synthetic fibers.

 

ABOUT ABITC

Africa Business in the Community (ABITC) is a non-profit organization, registered and operating in Uganda. It is a Social Enterprise & National Alliance of community development associations which has been working with and for the people of Uganda since its inception 2015.

 

It operates on principles of European Union & UN Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. Its objective is to create conditions for sustainable development.

 

ABITC believes that when individuals make simple changes in their behavior, they drive large-scale changes that benefit people and the planet.

 

This translates into reduced carbon emissions, stronger businesses, healthier communities and a sustainable future for all.

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ABOUT BIO JIGSAW LIMITED

Biojigsaw Ltd, incorporated in Uganda under the Companies Act (October 2011), is a private company dedicated to the development of all kinds of Bio products and great Innovative technologies to enhance the agribusiness by-products including Fiber Extraction from Banana, Bio-cementation, Assortment Energy Products and Extraction of Biofuels from different types of seeds.

They work with many organizations to ensure that Uganda benefits in many more other Bio products as research goes on.