Kapok Collective

Our vision is a world in which the materials we use are natural and biodegradable, rural communities live without poverty and forests are managed sustainably. Our social enterprise, Kapok Collective transform neglected and wasted forest fruits into sustainable soft-furniture. Kapok fibers come from the fruit of an ancient tree found across Tanzania's forests but due to a lack of value addition and market linkages, these trees are being highly deforested and this valuable fiber is being wasted. At the same time, most soft-furniture is made using environmentally hazardous materials like styrofoam and plastic micro-beads. We're changing this by training rural communities on kapok harvesting, processing and provide them with guaranteed markets for the fibers. This way communities can earn higher incomes from harvesting fruits instead of chopping the trees down and gaining value from the sale of lumber which reduces deforestation, promotes a natural and biodegradable material alternative and increases income for impoverished rural communities.