A Kenyan company makes building panels from mushroom roots that cost two-thirds the price of traditional materials, helping address Nairobi’s 2-million-unit housing shortage.

The biodegradable panels are made from agricultural waste and mycelium, with nearly 3,600 square yards produced monthly and a significantly lower carbon footprint.

One homeowner paid $208 for mushroom-based panels for her 161-square-foot home, finding the quality comparable to brick but far more affordable.

NAIROBI — A large mushroom farm near the Kenyan capital of Nairobi is one of a kind: It grows fungi on an industrial scale — not as food for restaurants but as a building material that some Kenyans say could make more people homeowners.

The farm produces mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms that a local

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