Our Story
In November 2022, a group of university students came together to change the world.
We were seeing how slowly Nairobi, the once green city under the sun was choking from textile waste. Even more disappointing was that across the vast continent of Africa, the narrative of climate change was the same and it was underpinned by unsustainable materials fueling the growth of short-lived fast-fashion.
Nature has always had a way for materials to interact and co-exist. We believe that materials are at the centre of a circular sustainable future for all and that research into new technologies will help us unlock possibilities we never knew were possible.
We are driving that change starting from Africa.
Why Agro-waste
Across the world, smallholder farmers are the most at-risk community for the effects of the climate crisis yet they also have invaluable resources after the end of every harvest.
By working with existing materials and using existing resources, we are freeing up more land for food production, reducing the reliance on unsustainable synthetics and giving farmers extra income that not only subsidizes the cost of agriculture but also enables them to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.
What’s more? The leftover plant material is converted into organic compost and taken back to the farms.
Community
We are children of smallholder farmers and we’ve seen just how drastic things have changed over the last decades.
The journey that led us to Rethread Africa began with a desire to address the challenges faced by these farmers and we are proud of the fact that up to this day, they continue to be at the heart of what we do and how we do it.
That is why we’ve spent a lot of time building solutions that create a community around not only the problem but also how we can co-create solutions to these challenges from farm to material.
