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Kenyan entrepreneur turns banana waste into a thriving circular economy

What was once trash is now treasure. One entrepreneur's innovation is turning banana stems into fibre—and revolutionizing Kenya's farming economy.

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2 min read
The image shows a man wearing a blue dress and a straw hat, holding a bunch of bananas in one hand...
The image shows a man wearing a blue dress and a straw hat, holding a bunch of bananas in one hand and a cloth in the other, standing in front of two baskets filled with bananas on the ground.

Kenyan entrepreneur turns banana waste into a thriving circular economy

A Kenyan farm's discarded banana stems have become a valuable resource, thanks to innovation from a local entrepreneur. Samuel Thuo, co-founder of Ziada Solutions, discovered a way to turn the stems into fibre—a material now used in textiles, crafts, and sanitary products. What was once waste is now part of a growing circular economy in Nyamira County. Thuo grew up on a banana plantation, where stems were left to rot after harvest. The fruit was the only product with value, while the rest went unused. When Covid-19 travel restrictions cut off markets, he began researching alternatives and found that banana stems could be processed into fibre—a practice already common in Uganda and parts of Asia.

His family farm became the testing ground. Today, Ziada Solutions processes around three tonnes of stems daily, producing roughly 30 kilogrammes of fibre. The transformation didn't stop there: Nyamira County's banana value chain now yields food, compost, and by-products, proving a zero-waste system is possible.

The county government supported the shift by distributing tissue-cultured banana seedlings to farmers. Governor Amos Nyaribo explained that this built a steady supply base for the fibre industry. Meanwhile, the national government has listed textiles and apparel—including banana fibre—as one of nine priority value chains.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) sees this as part of a global move towards a circular economy. Caroline Kosgei, an FAO representative, noted that alternative fibres like these reduce waste while creating new economic opportunities. Farmers in Nyamira County no longer see banana stems as rubbish but as a raw material for multiple industries. The fibre is now used in everything from clothing to sanitary pads, adding value to every part of the crop. With government backing and growing demand, this shift could reshape Kenya's textile sector and farming practices.

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