Maputo, Nov. 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambican start-up Agriview collects corn husks from corn sellers in Maputo to turn them into biodegradable tableware that replaces plastic, while seeking funding to scale semi-industrial production and create jobs for young people.

"We are currently looking for grants [funding] so that we can move on to the semi-industrial phase (...). [We want] to grow, employ people, add value and create income for more families and stability for our country," Rui Bauhofer, co-founder of Agriview, told Lusa.

While Rui and Joaquim Rebelo, the other of the project's co-founders, are unable to move forward with semi-industrial production and "provide employment" for young people, the two young Mozambicans have been generating "extra income" for the women who sell corn on the roadside and pavements, from whom they collect the raw material.

"We collect corn husks from small farmers and street vendors who sell grilled and boiled corn cobs and pay them a symbolic amount," says Rui Bauhofer, noting that he had to show the prototypes to the women to get the husks.

From the hands of the vendors and producers, the husks are treated, transformed into pulp, placed in moulds, pressed and finally left to dry, giving life to "single-use" plates and egg cartons that will replace disposable plastic, with the aim of "improving the environment and caring for the planet".

Some plates and honeycombs are made with embedded chia, kale, tomato and other crop seeds to plant, water and germinate "new plants in the ecosystem", a biodegradation process that occurs after three weeks of use.

Agriview is going even further, researching mangrove seeds and other plants that prevent beach erosion to embed in disposable tableware, also aiming to "restore biodiversity".

"The idea is to transform Mozambique into an example of resilience to climate change. It is something that the government has been strongly advocating, and for us it is an honour to be part of this agenda, not only locally but also globally," says Bauhofer.

Inspired by a 2013 report on the production of disposable tableware from pineapple peels and crowns, Rui Bauhofer and Joaquim Rebelo, both 30, only began developing the project in 2021 and, after a "testing period," finally had their prototypes "with better consistency and uniformity" last April.

Corn husks were the "best bet" for Agriview, as they are one of the "most widely grown, non-seasonal crops, produced throughout the year in large quantities."

"The husk is hydrophobic, which is an added value for us; it repels water on its own, it doesn't let water penetrate, and that's precisely why we decided to choose corn husks," says Rui, while showing off a prototype biodegradable soup plate and savoury snack plate.

Rui also has four prototypes of egg cartons in his hands, from the first experiment to the last, which differ in colour and consistency, demonstrating the start-up's creative process.

The plates and egg cartons, already a little worn from travelling around the world in search of funding, recently won the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, awarded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in London.

The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, launched in 2014 by the Royal Academy of Engineering in London, is considered the largest prize dedicated to engineering in Africa, reinforcing the role of innovation in improving the quality of life and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa.

Agriview also won the Africa Prize's "One to Watch" award, the continent's highest distinction dedicated to engineering, recognising innovative and scalable solutions to environmental and social challenges, after a competition involving 30 African countries.

In the future, the Mozambican start-up Agriview aims to create jobs for young people and, in addition to plates, produce biodegradable cups and cutlery to sell to women who sell food on the streets of Maputo and in restaurants, replacing the disposable plastic tableware currently used.

"The idea is that they [the plates] are 100% biodegradable, that is, they disappear into the environment, returning to the environment in a way that is not harmful to it," concludes Rui Bauhofer.

LN/ADB // ADB.

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