Assessed supplier has been assessed by giving buyers in-depth details and authoritative information about suppliers for free, to help buyers source smarter and safer.CELEBRATING WORLD BAMBOO DAY Inaugurated in 2009 by the World Bamboo Organisation, World Bamboo Day is celebrated annually on the 18th of September. The purpose of this celebration is to increase awareness of the importance of bamboo around the world. Why is Bamboo Special? Bamboo, commonly mistaken for a tree, is a grass that belongs to the Gramineae family.It grows naturally in the tropical and subtropical belt and is commonly found in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world and has over 1500 uses ranging from construction to clothing and its shoots are a delicious substitute to the typical vegetable. Bamboo has water retention, water purification, soil conservation and carbon sequestration properties and produces 35% more oxygen than trees.
It absorbs 3-5 tonness of carbon per hectare making it vital for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Bamboo has been a tool for economic liberation for rural communities. Its numerous strengths influence the ecological, social and economic status of these communities where bamboo cottage industries thrive. Bamboo is a special plant because it is a self-generating natural resource with shoots growing annually. There are over 1200 species grown worldwide. The utility of bamboo has increased tremendously in the last decade with both cottage and large scale commercial industries growing as a result. The Global Bamboo Story In China, bamboo has been used for different purposes like construction, as food and medicine for centuries and the modern bamboo industry has grown rapidly since the 1980s. By 1999, trade was estimated to be worth USD 4.5 billion, expontentially growing to an estimated USD 60 billion per year in 2015. Advances in technology has led to production of value-added products like pulp and paper, activated carbon for energy , flooring ( construction material) and textlies.
This diverstifation of products has seen China’s domestic bamboo market alone reach a value of USD 32 billion, improving millions of peoples livelhoods and generating over 7 million jobs. India has the World’s second largest Bamboo resource and the largest area under bamboo plants, covering 13.96 million hectares with over 8.6 million people in India dependent on bamboo for their livelihood. The pulp and paper industry, construction, food, fuel, fodder and medicine annually consume about 13.4 million tonnes of bamboo equating to over USD 400 million. Many other countries in Asia have historically utilized bamboo for culinary, decorative, construction and medicinal purposes like Indonesia, Nepal, Japan and Philippines. Parts of South America are catching up with planting of large commercial plantations in the last few years. The Netherlands is the world’s largest bamboo importer making Europe the largest import market for bamboo products in the world accounting for over USD 0.5 billion of annual international trade.
Much of sub-saharan Africa has indigenous bamboo and suitable conditions for planting other species. East Africa’s bamboo is largely untapped and contributes only 1% to the global bamboo market despite the region accounting for around 3-4% of the world’s total known bamboo coverage. Reasons as to why bamboo farming has not been popular within Africa and in Kenya for a long time include; lack of awareness, inadequate technology and the lack of policy that favours commercialization of bamboo. However, this is changing with a number of countries in Africa leading the bamboo revolution like Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya. Action plans have been put into place to ensure bamboo plays a key role in Africa’s economic green growth plan. Ethiopia has the largest bamboo resource and sector in Africa, with approximately 1,000,000 hectares of bamboo and over 500 urban bamboo micro-entrepreneurs distributed throughout the Country. The sectors mainly have artisans that produce furniture and handicrafts for sale in the domestic market.
A few factories are producing charcoal and wood flooring making it a leader the large scale commercialization of bamboo. In West Africa, Ghana is a leading the bamboo revolution, substituting fuelwood for more efficient bamboo charcoal as well as innovating new products from bamboo such as the world renowned bamboo bicycles. Bamboo is now being recognized in Africa as a green solution that addresses issues of climate change, poverty, rural-urban migration, food security and youth unemployment. Potential for economic transformation Last year, heads of states and Governments met and pledged to eradicate poverty and hunger in 15 years, by putting into place 17 sustainable goals. Bamboo directly or indirectly addresses over 15 of the said goals. In Asia and South American countries it has been well documented how bamboo has alleviated people from poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment. The success of bamboo is due to its regenerating capabilities that allow it to grow up 1 meters a day.
Bamboo’s properties allow it to act as a superior timber substitute, its impressive growth rate, makes bamboo sustainable, allowing forest cover maintenance. Factories that manufacture bamboo products provide, green collar jobs, carbon neutral products, as well as bio-energy providing green alternatives and contributing to a low carbon development pathway. Kenya’s Vision 2030 is the blueprint for the long-term development of the country, and its focus is to create a “Globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by 2030”. To achieve Vision 2030 the government needs to maintain the natural systems. Bamboo has been identified as a catalyst to green economic growth in Kenya, with commercialization of bamboo being a key goal of achievement in the medium-term plan (2013 -2017). Kenya finally gets into the bamboo grove In Kenya state corporations like Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI) together with Kenya Forest Services (KFS) have been carrying out research of bamboo for the last 30 years, Yushania alpina is the only species of native forests in Kenya.
This species currently only grows in high altitude regions, this resulted to introductions of exotic species from Asia and South America that are economically viable that grow in climatic conditions similar to Kenya. A number of challenges has resulted in the economic potential bamboo has not been experienced in Kenya but this is slowly changing a number of private sector companies including government, civil society, conservation agencies international bodies, as well as other key stakeholders are working together to ensure that the success of bamboo in China will be replicated in Kenya. GreenPot is at the forefront of this campaign. Apart from bamboo being part of the medium-term plan (2013 -2017), the Kenyan Government together with Chinese, Dutch, Ethiopian and Ugandan have signed to the Dutch-Sino East Africa Bamboo Development Programme who’s aim is to unlock the vast potential of bamboo resources and contribute to green economic growth, international trade and investment between Europe, China, and East Africa.