In Maputo a nascent agritech venture is rewriting waste’s story. The startup Agri View is deploying discarded maize husks from local smallholder farms and converting them into fully biodegradable plates infused with seeds.
The product dubbed “Eco-Plates” landed the “One to Watch” prize at the 2025 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, established by the Royal Academy of Engineering. The award places Mozambique “on the map of global sustainable innovation”, the company said in its announcement.
The mechanics of the idea are elegantly simple: maize husk waste, which is often burned or dumped, is cleaned, dried, milled, boiled with soda ash, mixed with biodegradable starch binders, and compression-moulded into tableware. Embedded between layers are selected seeds (such as basil, coriander, lettuce or tomato) that survive the moulding process and germinate once the plate is discarded into soil under proper conditions.
According to Agri View’s co-founder Rui Bauhofer, “Once used for serving food, our Eco-Plates can be safely discarded and germinate into a food crop to help replace what has been lost,” referencing the devastation caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth which destroyed more than 780,000 hectares of crops in Mozambique.
The firm’s other co-founder, Joaquim Rebelo, adds that the plates contribute to carbon removal, “Each biodegradable plate gives rise to a tree and contributes to removing up to 25 kg of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year,” he said in a statement.
The innovation has two distinct value propositions. First, it offers a non-polluting alternative to disposable plastic tableware, tapping into growing global demand for sustainable packaging and single-use replacements. Second, it links waste reduction with seed germination and crop potential, offering a hybrid ecological and agricultural return. For a market increasingly sensitive to circular economy models, Agri View’s product addresses both environmental and social dimensions.
The Africa Prize win gives Agri View a crucial credibility boost. The Prize, Africa’s largest award devoted to engineering innovation, has supported more than 149 businesses across 22 countries. Its alumni have collectively raised more than US $39 million in grants and equity and 71 % of alumni are generating revenue. That context means the award functions not just as recognition but as a commercial launch pad.
Agri View was founded in 2021 and the concept was formally conceived in 2022 when Bauhofer discovered piles of maize husks being discarded by a street-vendor corn seller. He realised the impermeability of the husks made them suitable for holding liquid, much like pineapple-leaf tableware innovations in Central America. He recruited Rebelo and set about developing the product. The early prototype was handcrafted; the next step is industrial scaling. The prize money will be used to acquire industrial-scale moulding machines that can raise output well beyond artisanal production.
Crucially, the business model links directly into rural value chains. The maize husks are sourced from smallholder farmers who gain an additional income stream from what was hitherto waste. Agri View estimates that farmers recover between 10 % and 20 % of the value lost in harvest via this waste stream. In a country still recovering from climate shocks and looking to diversify agricultural incomes, this model offers a compelling rural impact.
Looking ahead, Agri View has ambitions beyond Mozambique. The founders aim to launch into European, Asian and American markets while deepening their presence in Africa. The global push on single-use plastic bans, biodegradable alternatives and the circular economy gives them a favourable runway. Their work also aligns with several UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically reducing plastic pollution, enabling sustainable production and supporting climate resilience.
What remains to be seen is whether the product can scale cost-effectively and meet the regulatory hurdles of foreign markets (food-safe materials, seed-infused products classification, import certification). Competitive pressures will also emerge: biodegradable tableware is a global theme and local production cost, logistics and seed-germination performance will need to hold up under commercial scrutiny. But for now, Agri View’s win delivers a signal: innovation rooted in African agricultural waste can gain global traction.
For entrepreneurs tracking Africa’s innovation landscape, the message is clear: a simple insight into waste (maize husks) + a scalable engineering process + an embedded social impact model (smallholder income + plastic substitution) = a startup that earns both recognition and runway. Mozambique, via Agri View, is quietly staking a claim in the global circular-economy startup sweepstakes.
