Hamidu Sonko Biha: The Social Entrepreneur Creating Eco-products out of Poultry Eggshells in Uganda

Hamidu Sonko Biha is a 2020 Anzisha finalist, Hamidu was selected among Africa’s top 30 young transformational leaders by Leo Africa institute’s young and emerging leaders Project (YELP) of 2019. He is a 2019 Alumnus of Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) at the Regional Centre in Nairobi.

Passion

Being born in the humble family background of a peasant farmer makes me a humble man by default and a team member by upbringing which answers of me fitting into new teams. I am a victim of all poor performs ranging from village traditional cooking methods, farming and heath upkeep. Growing up from the village was a testing medicine, but I hope as patient I did it. In the sense of finding my own reality, the motivation of becoming an entrepreneur came after dropping out of school, after realizing my four (4) siblings having failed to secure jobs after University that gave me a unique insight at the age of 17 as an answer to my life’s calling to start my own first business of recycling wastes into valuable 3D paper art that I sold to schools as learning models to improve my livelihood were I reside. An idea that sparked after realizing that the kind of education administered was not leading me towards my dream trajectory and harnessing my passion I had for environment that later unlocked my entrepreneurial talent.

I practically learnt and acquired experience in the scope of sustainable community development and contemporary rural and urban innovation systems analysis. Learning and knowledge brokerage in; waste value addition and social-economic development. Today my business has turned into a big waste reduction social enterprise that provides ecofriendly products with both health and environmental benefits recycled from poultry eggshells as an enabler.

Through “Durable Home Network” launched in Eastern Uganda to directly underserved rural families to improve their homes and preventing  jigger infestations caused due to lack of affordable building material to construct decent sheltered homes.

Since our inception, We have reached over 2400 people with our products in the last 12 months. Jiggers are a major associated health problem with households who lack decent shelter in Uganda particularly Mayuge,wakiso and kamuli. They are a horror, increase poverty,social exclusion of the affected and sometimes to death.

Problems

In Uganda,  90% of households depend on firewood and wood charcoal as sources of fuel for cooking, the remaining 10% use other energy sources (UNHS 2017). Current statistics estimate the population at 42 million and expected to double in the next 15 years (UBOS 2018), exacerbating the situation  since the growing numbers will need to be fed.

Minty percent (90%) of the population  live in rural areas and only  5% of the households can afford building materials such as tiles and paint to beautify their houses to prevent themselves from exposure to hygienic threats such as jiggers’ infestations (UNHS 2018).

And 85% of the available land is arable for farming, while applied poor agricultural in puts such acidic fertilizers  has exhausted the soil which in turn effects productivity.

However, reliance on traditional cooking energy sources such as  wood charcoal and failure to rethink of new sustainable and eco friendly alternatives comes along with various constraints such as health risks,damaging the environment,low standards of living and depletion of forest reserves in the country. This therefore necessitates exploitation of eco- friendly alternatives such as safe fuel, agricultural and buildings materials in solving these problems to save the ecosystem and to live a happy life.

About 90% of the rural population in Uganda only 2% household can afford building materials to improve their homes from exposure to hygienic threats.

Over 2 billion households in Sub saharan African live in poor homes(Africa Bank) because they are unable to access affordable building materials to improve their homes and consequences are severe.

About 69% of rural Ugandans are living in substandard housing. One(1) out of ten( 10) children drop out of school and 1 in 3 severe poor children are stunted, physically and mentally due to hygienic threats such as jigger infestation that leads to social exclusion,poverty and death.

Biha Eco Venture changes that by empowering rural homes access to affordable building products to improve their homes and communities by delivering a proven service bundle which improves health, homes standards and save household income.

Solutions

Using  waste processing technology, Biha Eco Venture looks at developing  low cost building materials  distributed on credit to enrich housing poverty in need areas.

Million tones of poultry eggshells are seen as waste material in Uganda. However, We believe industrial eggshells is the next building material of the future.

 We thus came up with a concept to bring recycled building materials from wastes contributing to contemporary building  industry  and decent sheltered homes in developing population by creating alternative tiles and green roof panels.

Biha Eco Venture is a recycling company, that innovatively uses wastes to make various products with an intention of solving social needs. we provide solutions through four interlinked  revolutionary eco -products made using poultry eggshells as a primary material.

Eco- Charcoal is repurpose clean energy made from poultry eggshell powder(ESP), binded  with a mixture from cassava blended with anti-mosquito repellent properties extracted from natural repellency herbs called Astronella. The product has less carbon and protect end user from toxic fumes. We supply  supermarkets and sell through traditional suppliers of wood charcoal to reduce household energy consumption used per day.

Eco  tiles  are made from ESP  to produce  affordable  tiles for low income earners.  We crush to obtain  powder mixed with cement and innovatively moulded to have  an eco tile. Our product is marketed  through  local channels to fight spread of jingers among the susceptible households.

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