Although water hyacinth has been a menace for fishermen living around Lake Victoria, it has now emerged that the weed can be turned into useful products.
Takawiri initiative a community based organization located at Migosi, in Kisumu has set out to solve the issue of water hyacinth saving not only the fish but also putting money in the pockets of the youth in and around the area.
Michael Otieno the director of the organization said that they make a range of products from the weed. The product includes; gift bags, envelopes, books, name tags and bookmarks.
The products are sold in hotels, learning institutions, shops and export market.
For Michael Otierno water hyacinth has provided him with a fulltime job.
“Each day when my neighbours wake up to go to work, I ride my bicycle to go to the lake to collects weeds,” he quips.
To make products, water hyacinth is cooked then soaked with waste papers then pulped using locally fabricated machine. The content is sieved and dried in the sun. The dried paper is then pressed into finer quality using calendaring machine and converted to desired products.