Ecoverse LTD has raised $10K in seed funding from Kosmos Innovation Centre (KIC) and the Mastercard Foundation. The Ghana-based startup is re-engineering the country's rice value chain, turning rice husks and plastic waste into durable, affordable paving bricks.
The company's model also aims to boost farmer incomes: by acquiring rice husks through a rice-free dehusking and vaporization process, Ecoverse says farmers can earn 34.1% more of the value of 100kg of paddy rice - a 300% increase in profit on dehusked paddy. Ghana's smallholder rice farmers generate roughly 450,000 tonnes of rice husks annually, 80% of which - valued at $36 million - is burned or discarded.
