From bush to brick:
End-to-end sustainability

MycoHAB Namibia is harvesting and grinding down the ecologically destructive encroacher bush (Acacia mellifera) to create a substrate (food) for mycelium to grow through. The process produces gourmet mushrooms sold into local retailers, markets and hotels, and leftover waste (mycelium composite) that gets compacted and turned into structurally sound building materials used to create affordable and dignified housing.

MycoHAB Namibia evolved from Standard Bank Namibia’s corporate social responsibility programme Buy-a-Brick Foundation, which raises funds to assist no-to-low-income Namibians living in informal settlements with brick homes.

While the MycoHAB Namibia project is creating healthier and sustainable solutions for food and housing, its broader value lies in delivering jobs, alleviating homelessness and poverty, and eliminating the encroacher bush’s choke on Namibia’s water supply, wildlife and grasslands.