Ugandan business turns banana fiber into sustainable handicrafts

Employee Anathole Kisakye dries banana fiber threads at Tupande Holdings Ltd workshop, in Kiwenda village, Busukuma, Wakiso District, Uganda, Sept. 20, 2023. [AP Photo]

A decapitated banana plant is almost useless, an inconvenience to the farmer who must then uproot it and lay its dismembered parts as mulch.

But can such stems somehow be returned to life? Yes, according to a Ugandan company that's buying banana stems in a business that turns fiber into attractive handicrafts.