Adobe houses are expected to continue providing the housing needs of rural poor people because of their energy efficiency, comfort, and cost effectiveness. Unfortunately traditional adobe constructions are very poor against earthquakes and cause significant loss of life and property. Seismic deficiencies of such structures are mainly due to brittleness and low strength of the blocks; low strength as well as poor bonding of mortar; and lack of structural integrity. Considering affordability, availability, environmental friendliness and easy construction, the current study adopts natural fibers (straw, hemp and jute) and cementing materials (cement and gypsum) as reinforcing materials to improve the strength and ductility of adobe material. Straw improves the ductility of adobe block at the cost of compressive strength. Jute is the most effective among the selected fibers to improve both the ductility and toughness of adobe block. Gypsum improves the strength of adobe block but not the ductility. Similarly, cement is effective for improving the mortar strength only. On the contrary, jute is effective for improving the mortar strength as well as coherence between block and mortar. Higher flexibility, tensile strength and friction of jute might be the reason for its best performance.