of the world's most wasteful crops.

And these giant stems are a part of the problem.

Farmers typically burn them,

but that pollutes the air.

So instead, one company in Uganda

has figured out how to pulverize them into fiber

to make rugs, place mats, even hair extensions.

So could bananas become a green alternative

to cotton or silk?

We visited the headquarters of TexFad

in the outskirts of Kampala to find out.

Every banana stem only fruits once in its lifetime

before it rots or catches a virus.

And for every ton of fruit,

plantations produce 2 tons of debris.

But in those mounds of refuse,

Kimani Muturi saw potential.

He founded TexFad in 2013

after discovering his love for handweaving in college.

I cannot finish using the waste

that is out there. It's too much.

First, workers cut the stems

into celery-shaped chunks

and leave them out to dry in the sun.

Then they feed those strands

into an extractor, like this one.

This is a crucial step,

and the only part of the process

that requires machinery.

And it's not cheap.

This units costs anywhere from $1,000

for a used one to $10,000 brand new.

That price presents an obstacle for expanding this business.

The rest of the work is done by hand.

The extracted fibers dry again

until they feel like a silky yarn,

but one that is as strong as rope.

At this point, it's also ideal for dyeing.

The final stop is the weaving shed,

where the making of household goods

and handicrafts begins.

Some of the designs on these rugs

are inspired by traditional East African patterns.

Other products are custom-made for clients.

It can take up to a month to weave a rug.

The price varies,

but many start at around $500.

TexFad employs 23 people

and even offers an internship program for students.

The problem that we have here in our country,

we study, we get our degrees

but we don't have opportunities.

Esther Ainebyoona has been

at the company for about a year.

She started as an intern

and is now one of the main weavers.

Why I like the people I worth with,

it's because they are motivating. They help.

There are different groups of people around.

It's a very good thing because

you interact with people of all ages.

Banana textiles have been around for centuries

in countries like the Philippines, Nepal, and Japan.

But TexFad is one of the first companies

to bring it to Uganda.

And the potential is huge,

because the country produces more bananas

than any other in East Africa —

about 9 million tons every year.

That's about 5 tons of fruit

for every person in Uganda.

I will never get worried

that I won't have materials tomorrow

as long as we Ugandans are eating bananas on a daily basis.

And while Kimani's business has grown

over the past eight years,

it isn't enough to make a dent

in the $30 billion global banana industry.

Environmentalists say that composting the stems

into fertilizers would be a more immediate solution.

It prevents dehydration,

it prevents deforestation,

and it gets a richer soil,

and richer soil is a more healthy banana.

Many farms do that,

but chopping the stems requires tough manual labor.

So for most farmers in Uganda,

getting rid of them is easier and faster.

Still, these kinds of textiles are biodegradable

and are a more sustainable alternative

to other popular fabrics.

Banana fiber absorbs dyes better than cotton,

which means it needs less water and less land to produce.

But the special equipment

and expertise hold back this method

from becoming more widespread.

It could spread over the world

if more machines are found and developed

that actually makes such thin material

that you can use it for the clothing industry.

Because currently, it's quite hard to do so.

And not a lot of machines have been developed.

Or it's costly.

Still, Kimani dreams big,

even during a pandemic.

I'm just imagining if there was no COVID,

I think we would be a little further than we are today.

And he's always innovating.

There's no rocket science in what we are doing here.

No, even people who come to learn here,

they don't take much time to learn.

But this is just the beginning.

I can tell you that banana fiber is the next fiber,

the next fiber in terms of sustainable.

The fibers for fashions

are not just for fashions. For everything.