Material Innovation Center Turns Cocoa Waste into Classroom Furniture in Ghana

August 27, 2026
Posted by: Paul N.
Categories: GNBCC Members, Member Spotlight, Members

The GNBCC member Material Innovation Center (MIC) is turning an overlooked byproduct of Ghana’s cocoa sector into something with a very different purpose: school furniture for children in cocoa-growing communities.

Through its Cocoa Waste to Classroom project, MIC and its partners are transforming cocoa pod husks into circular panel materials that can be used to produce school desks and other classroom infrastructure.

The project began with a feasibility study in 2023, exploring how cocoa pod husks, an abundant and underused agricultural residue in Ghana, could be given a second life as a useful material. Supported by Ferrero and its supply-chain partners, LuxDev through its Business Partnership Facility (BPF), and Foundation Material Innovation Center, the study laid the groundwork for moving the idea from research into a real-world pilot.

The pilot was subsequently carried out in the Twifo Praso region, where cocoa pod husks were collected from farming communities and farmers were paid for the biomass. The husks were dried and ground in Ghana before being processed into cocoa-based panel material.

The panels were then developed and tested for use in Ghanaian classrooms. Through several rounds of prototyping, MIC worked with Ghanaian carpenters to develop a durable double desk with integrated seating, with each unit designed to accommodate two students. The design was intentionally aligned with desk formats already familiar in Ghanaian schools, while placing emphasis on durability and practical classroom use.

At the end of the Proof of Concept phase, 300 double desks and seats had been completed, providing seating for 600 students.

The project is not only about producing furniture. It is also testing how value can be created closer to cocoa-growing communities. Farmers involved in the pilot received direct compensation for supplying cocoa pod husks, while Ghanaian carpenters, sawmill workers and community members have participated in the production process.

The pilot has also shown that cocoa agricultural residue can successfully be transformed into functional panel materials and subsequently processed by Ghanaian carpenters into locally relevant school furniture.

At the same time, the project has provided MIC and its partners with important lessons about what needs to change before the model can be taken to a larger scale.

For the pilot, the processed cocoa biomass was transported from Ghana to the Netherlands for industrial panel production before the finished panels were shipped back to Ghana for local fabrication. While this approach helped prove that the concept works, the international logistics, customs charges and associated production costs made clear that such a cross-continental production model would not be economically sustainable at scale.

The experience has strengthened the case for moving panel production closer to the source of the raw material.

MIC is therefore looking towards the establishment of a local Material Innovation Center and production facility in Ghana, taking the project from proof of concept towards local circular production. According to MIC, a local production facility could manufacture approximately 2.5 million m² of panel material per year, helping to keep knowledge, employment and economic value closer to Ghana’s cocoa-growing communities.

Local production would also eliminate much of the international transport involved in the current model, reduce production costs and create opportunities to expand the use of cocoa-based panels beyond school desks into other applications.

Traceability is another important part of the project. MIC is exploring the development of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) for cocoa-based panels and their applications, with the aim of documenting the journey of the material through the value chain and supporting future compliance and market readiness.

The steps completed during the pilot have already been logged on a Digital Product Passport platform, providing a foundation for further development of traceable secondary cocoa products.

The Cocoa Waste to Classroom pilot brings together SUCDEN Groupe Sucres & Denrées, Ferrero, SAM Panels, Portside, Federated Commodities PLC (FEDCO), Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Clement Kwaku Matorwmasen, local carpenters, farmers and participating school communities.

For MIC, the project demonstrates what can happen when an agricultural residue is looked at differently. Cocoa pod husks that might otherwise have little economic use can become a raw material for new products, create additional income opportunities and ultimately find their way back into the communities where the cocoa was grown.

As the project moves towards its next phase, MIC is seeking investors, industrial partners, implementation partners and off-takers interested in supporting the transition from pilot production to a locally based and scalable model in Ghana.