The people of Namibia are tormented by a housing crisis in which an estimated 20% of Namibians live in haphazard settlements, but MIT and MycoHAB hope to address this problem using bricks made of fungal waste that are stronger than concrete. 

MycoHAB is a foundation dedicated to offering solutions to food insecurity and sustainability with mycelium technology, founded on the Standard Bank Namibia’s “Buy-A-Brick” program, which donates funds to provide homes for citizens living in makeshift housing. MIT reported that “100 percent of all proceeds (all revenue, not just the profits)” made from selling oyster mushrooms grown “at the MycoHAB site on the outskirts of Windhoek, Namibia, have been donated to the Buy-A-Brick Foundation,” which is incredibly meaningful for the 90% of Namibian households that take home less than $150 each month. MycoHAB now operates independently and provides training for new mushroom growers to make mycelium products, which are carbon-negative and can be converted into fertilizer at the end of their life (“MIT Sloan Executive Education”). 

In May of this year, the first house was constructed using MycoBlocks made up of waste that is usually discarded or used as compost, composed of the waste from oyster mushrooms, but have no foul smell according to researchers. Growing oyster mushrooms is perfect, as they can feed people and generate revenue while “requiring very little water and no additional nutrients, fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides” according to MIT. Not only are these blocks made from waste products from edible oyster mushrooms, but the mushrooms are grown by eating invasive bush, which “inhabit 45 million hectares” of the developing country. These bushes seep into farmland and are typically addressed by burning. The Namibian government “plans to burn 300 million tons every 15 years,” and convert the vegetation into charcoal. Instead, the weeds can be cut down and fed to the oyster mushrooms, with each MycoBlock eliminating about ten kilograms of invasive bush.

This project is a brilliant solution that addresses Namibia’s housing crisis while also proving additional support through the cultivation of edible food, and simultaneously addressing troublesome invasive species. Hopefully success from this project will house those in need and spread the innovative mindset employed by this strategy, leading to the development of similar projects.

It is so incredible to see what mycology has to offer, especially as it’s such an untouched field. Despite being one of the three kingdoms of life, fungi don’t play a huge role in our everyday lives, or at least that most people know about. It’s encouraging to see advancements in this field, especially in such a productive way that addresses so many issues at once. This story is truly inspiring and makes me want to see more examples of how biology can be used to solve human problems in new ways.

In other news, I’ve just finished the first draft of my research paper! Very exciting stuff that I’m very excited to share; however I don’t think I can post it to my website if I intend on publishing it. If it is accepted, I might make a Synopsis of it though, wouldn’t that be fun? I’m not sure yet, so feel free to give me your suggestions and stay tuned to learn with me!

Dua, Shubhangi. “Namibia Builds World’s First Carbon-Negative, Mushroom-Made House.” Interesting Engineering, 18 July 2024, interestingengineering.com/culture/mycoblocks-mushroom-waste-homes-namibia. Accessed 19 July 2024.

“MIT Sloan Executive Education.” Exec.mit.edu, 22 May 2024, exec.mit.edu/s/blog-post/spores-for-sustainability-mycohab-opens-the-world-s-first-structural-mycelium-bu-MCAVKUT77KV5GM7LWYEB6EISZWZU. Accessed 20 July 2024.