From Weed to Wall: Ethiopian Innovator Transforms Prosopis Juliflora into Low-Cost Bricks

Known for its searing desert heat, where daytime temperatures soar well above 40°C, Ethiopia’s Afar region unfolds across one of the most unforgiving landscapes on earth. Many families live in dome-shaped huts made of mud, wood, and woven mats, structures designed to be portable yet protective against harsh winds and extreme heat. Simple but functional, these dwellings reflect the ingenuity of the Afar people in sustaining life within a climate as hostile as it is strikingly beautiful.

Surafel Belay, a resident of Semera, Afar’s capital, embodies this spirit of adaptation. A construction engineer, he has spent more than a decade studying Prosopis juliflora, an invasive plant species introduced in the 1970s to combat desertification. Today, he transforms it into bricks for residential construction.

“Learning the nature of the plant was a game changer,” Surafel told Shega.

Prosopis juliflora, once promoted for reforestation, has become one of the world’s most invasive species, spreading to nearly 90 countries and officially classified as invasive in 48. In Ethiopia’s Afar Region, where pastoralists depend on fragile rangelands, it now covers about 1.17 million hectares and continues to expand by an estimated 31,127 hectares annually. The Baadu wetlands in Gewane Woreda show the speed of its spread: infestation rose from 3,600 hectares in 2000 to nearly 40 percent of the wetlands by 2013.

Surafel discovered that the plant’s high fiber content functions as natural reinforcement in bricks. When crushed into fine particles and blended with a binder such as clay or starch, the fibers help the mixture hold together, increasing durability and resistance to crumbling.

Surafel began experimenting with the plant during his days as a teacher at the Adedale Polytechnique College. Using the college’s lab equipment, he produced his first sample. Nowadays, the entire process from crushing to molding the bricks takes about seven days.

“Cement bricks need water to harden; our products don’t,” the engineer says in pride. 

His bricks, which are provided in standard, interlocking, and concrete varieties, also cost nearly half the price of alternatives in the market.

Opportunities to scale up were limited in his region until Care Ethiopia and Mercy Corps arrived in search of young innovators. Though Surafel placed only in the top fifteen of their competition, his idea and prototype drew the attention of Care Ethiopia’s recruiters. They later helped him establish business linkages with associations that supply Prosopis juliflora, giving him the steady input he needed to expand production.

Some suppliers have already moved into homes built from his bricks, while the polytechnic college purchased crushing and milling machines to further support the project. Surafel has since scaled his operations and recently secured first place and a 150,000 Birr award from the Green Africa Future initiative

“I believe I can do much more with a bit more support, “he says.

Contractor Dereje Anbese sees strong potential in the innovation, provided it undergoes proper quality tests. For builders, he explained, durability matters more than cost when beginning a project. His view is echoed by Meacha Teshome, a construction manager and founder of Addiscost Estimator, a platform that models and calculates construction costs. Meacha noted that interlocking bricks could save significant labor by reducing the need for cement mixing, watering, and other foundation work.

“It could significantly cut costs and time,” the founder told Shega.

While he praised the idea, he stressed that further studies are needed before the bricks can be widely used in urban areas. For now, he added, the technology could already be transformative for rural communities and smaller-scale construction.