On a recent visit to a Japanese University, President Paul Kagame observed the technology to extract fibres from bananas, which gave him the idea of initiating the technology in Rwanda which harvests a bountiful crop of bananas.
Towards this end, a 10-day workshop has been organised by the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) to impart training in extracting fibres from bananas. The trainers and experts have come in from India and Japan.
The workshop is co-organised and supported by Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), UTEXRWA, and Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and representatives from 10 cooperatives are participating in the workshop.
Rawanda is a country which is rich in banana production and as per statistics; the country produces 2.5 million tons of bananas per year. The potential to extract banana fibre from this produce is around 2,500 tons per annum.
Mr Raj Rajendran, Managing Director of UTEXRWA, where the workshop is being held said that their factory has purchased a banana fibre extracting machine and said that the idea of extracting banana fibre has the potential to employ over 100,000 people in the country.
Giving details, Director General of WDA, Dr Gatabazi said, "We are providing training to these people to make them understand the features of banana fibre and develop their skills in creating value-added products."
He added by saying that the government is planning to set up a Banana fibre industry, which would make Rwanda, the only African country to export value-added goods from the banana fibre.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India