The east African nation is counting on its huge supply to drive growth, reduce deforestation and cut carbon emissions
A combination of an abundance of bamboo and eager foreign investment is making Ethiopia a frontier for the bamboo industrial revolution in Africa, according to the country's government.
"Ethiopia has the resources, the investment, a rapidly developing manufacturing industry and a strong demand for our bamboo products from foreign markets. We have what we need. The expansion of Africa's bamboo sector has begun," Ethiopia's state minister for agriculture and rural development, Mitiku Kassa, told IPS.
Ethiopia has the largest area – 1m hectares (2.47m acres) – of commercially untapped bamboo in east Africa, making it attractive to investment partners from the industry. The ministry of agriculture and rural development told IPS that it was unwilling to disclose any figures, but added that there had been no formal bamboo economy in Ethiopia until last year.
"The market potential of bamboo in Europe is massive. We believe that there can be a reliable and effective supply chain built here in Ethiopia to create a bamboo manufacturing industry," said Felix Boeck, an associate engineer at Africa Bamboo PLC, a public-private partnership set up with Ethiopian partners and supported by the German Development Co-operation in 2012.
The partnership plans to invest €10m (£8.54m) over the next five years in its Ethiopia-based manufacturing operation, which will supply competitive flooring products to European and US markets. The company plans to export 100,000 square metres of bamboo flooring products by next year. By 2016, this figure is expected to rise to 500,000 sq m.
"The fastest-growing market in Europe for the wood industry is flooring and outdoor decking. We expect our products to play a large role in this market," Boeck told IPS.
In comparison with softwood trees, which can take 30 years to reach maturity, bamboo is a fully mature resource after three years, making it commercially and environmentally sustainable. Sub-Saharan Africa has 3m hectares of bamboo forest, around 4% of the continent's total forest cover. Ethiopia plans to increase its bamboo cover to 2m hectares over the next five years.
Small-scale Ethiopian bamboo farmers such as Ghetnet Melaku are keen to participate in the development of the bamboo sector, if investment in its expansion is inclusive of small farmers. "I am just making enough money to subsist by producing bamboo for the local craft market and, if I had the opportunity, I would like to increase my capacity for skilled production and a better financial return," Melaku told IPS.
The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (Inbar) is an intergovernmental organisation that assists governments, businesses and local communities to identify innovative bamboo-based opportunities for human development.
It is helping raise awareness among African governments of the high potential of bamboo as a versatile and renewable resource that can generate sustainable development. According to Inbar, 1 billion people around the world use bamboo in their daily lives in housing material, fencing and food, as well as in arts and craft, and other areas.
"If properly managed, this highly versatile resource could spur economic growth in a world export market, valued at $2bn in 2011, reduce deforestation and cut carbon emissions," Inbar director general J Coosje Hoogendoorn told IPS.
Deforestation has ravaged Africa's environment: the carbon emissions from the burning of timber on the continent alone are expected to reach 6.7m tonnes by 2050. As 90% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa use firewood or charcoal to cook, the development of an alternative resource such as bamboo has become essential.
"Sourcing fuel for cooking food is integral to food security," said Hoogendoorn. "Rice, maize and pulses all require heat to become edible. Renewable alternatives like bamboo can help minimise deforestation caused by the logging of soft timber wood for cooking fuel and house materials."
Ethiopia's government has prohibited the creation of charcoal from burnt wood for retail and is actively advocating sustainable alternatives such as bamboo.
"Bamboo is a major untapped resource for Ethiopia. We are pushing to grow and conserve our bamboo resources. We are starting to work with farmers and enterprises to encourage and develop this sector for the country's economic and environmental benefit. We are working to undo unsustainable practices and advocate new alternatives," Kassa told IPS.
Although Ethiopia has one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa, it has increased its national forest cover to 7% from 3% a decade ago, out of an original 40%. Hoogendorn said governments needed to make financial resources available to enterprises that wished to develop Africa's bamboo industry.
"We want governments to put structures in place that offer financial support, such as microfinance, and which remove any hindrance for investors in the bamboo market, so that when companies want to set up a bamboo industry, they have access to financial support," he said.
Demand for Ethiopia's agricultural output can drive growth and development for the country's poor people as long as it generates employment opportunities and remains non-exploitative towards farm workers and the land, said research fellow Steve Wiggins of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
"It is good if there is another source of demand for farm produce, so long as the economics of bamboo offer decent returns to land and labour, equitable deals can be struck in the supply chain, and the crop is environmentally sustainable," he said.
While bamboo production in Asia carries connotations of unsustainable forestry practices and illegal logging, Inbar is working to share lessons learned and bring bamboo production in Africa's market up to the highest standards.
"Sustainable management of a country's bamboo sector is extremely important to the future of a country's market, especially if that country is wanting to export its products to the European market, where laws stipulate conformity to high sustainability standards," Hoogendoorn said.
As the industrial development of bamboo in Africa is in its infancy, investors have until recently been cautious about ploughing large amounts of money into a market whose dividends are relatively unknown.
"We are ready for the same industrial revolution in bamboo development that Ethiopia is experiencing," Andrew Akwasi Oteng-Amoako, chief research scientist at the Forestry Research Institute in Ghana, told IPS.
He lamented that although his west African country has an abundance of bamboo, it has so far failed to secure the same investment as Ethiopia. "We anticipate a revival of investment interest in Ghana's bamboo industry in the near future thanks to Ethiopia's success," Oteng-Amoako said. Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 hour ago.
A combination of an abundance of bamboo and eager foreign investment is making Ethiopia a frontier for the bamboo industrial revolution in Africa, according to the country's government.
"Ethiopia has the resources, the investment, a rapidly developing manufacturing industry and a strong demand for our bamboo products from foreign markets. We have what we need. The expansion of Africa's bamboo sector has begun," Ethiopia's state minister for agriculture and rural development, Mitiku Kassa, told IPS.
Ethiopia has the largest area – 1m hectares (2.47m acres) – of commercially untapped bamboo in east Africa, making it attractive to investment partners from the industry. The ministry of agriculture and rural development told IPS that it was unwilling to disclose any figures, but added that there had been no formal bamboo economy in Ethiopia until last year.
"The market potential of bamboo in Europe is massive. We believe that there can be a reliable and effective supply chain built here in Ethiopia to create a bamboo manufacturing industry," said Felix Boeck, an associate engineer at Africa Bamboo PLC, a public-private partnership set up with Ethiopian partners and supported by the German Development Co-operation in 2012.
The partnership plans to invest €10m (£8.54m) over the next five years in its Ethiopia-based manufacturing operation, which will supply competitive flooring products to European and US markets. The company plans to export 100,000 square metres of bamboo flooring products by next year. By 2016, this figure is expected to rise to 500,000 sq m.
"The fastest-growing market in Europe for the wood industry is flooring and outdoor decking. We expect our products to play a large role in this market," Boeck told IPS.
In comparison with softwood trees, which can take 30 years to reach maturity, bamboo is a fully mature resource after three years, making it commercially and environmentally sustainable. Sub-Saharan Africa has 3m hectares of bamboo forest, around 4% of the continent's total forest cover. Ethiopia plans to increase its bamboo cover to 2m hectares over the next five years.
Small-scale Ethiopian bamboo farmers such as Ghetnet Melaku are keen to participate in the development of the bamboo sector, if investment in its expansion is inclusive of small farmers. "I am just making enough money to subsist by producing bamboo for the local craft market and, if I had the opportunity, I would like to increase my capacity for skilled production and a better financial return," Melaku told IPS.
The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (Inbar) is an intergovernmental organisation that assists governments, businesses and local communities to identify innovative bamboo-based opportunities for human development.
It is helping raise awareness among African governments of the high potential of bamboo as a versatile and renewable resource that can generate sustainable development. According to Inbar, 1 billion people around the world use bamboo in their daily lives in housing material, fencing and food, as well as in arts and craft, and other areas.
"If properly managed, this highly versatile resource could spur economic growth in a world export market, valued at $2bn in 2011, reduce deforestation and cut carbon emissions," Inbar director general J Coosje Hoogendoorn told IPS.
Deforestation has ravaged Africa's environment: the carbon emissions from the burning of timber on the continent alone are expected to reach 6.7m tonnes by 2050. As 90% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa use firewood or charcoal to cook, the development of an alternative resource such as bamboo has become essential.
"Sourcing fuel for cooking food is integral to food security," said Hoogendoorn. "Rice, maize and pulses all require heat to become edible. Renewable alternatives like bamboo can help minimise deforestation caused by the logging of soft timber wood for cooking fuel and house materials."
Ethiopia's government has prohibited the creation of charcoal from burnt wood for retail and is actively advocating sustainable alternatives such as bamboo.
"Bamboo is a major untapped resource for Ethiopia. We are pushing to grow and conserve our bamboo resources. We are starting to work with farmers and enterprises to encourage and develop this sector for the country's economic and environmental benefit. We are working to undo unsustainable practices and advocate new alternatives," Kassa told IPS.
Although Ethiopia has one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa, it has increased its national forest cover to 7% from 3% a decade ago, out of an original 40%. Hoogendorn said governments needed to make financial resources available to enterprises that wished to develop Africa's bamboo industry.
"We want governments to put structures in place that offer financial support, such as microfinance, and which remove any hindrance for investors in the bamboo market, so that when companies want to set up a bamboo industry, they have access to financial support," he said.
Demand for Ethiopia's agricultural output can drive growth and development for the country's poor people as long as it generates employment opportunities and remains non-exploitative towards farm workers and the land, said research fellow Steve Wiggins of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
"It is good if there is another source of demand for farm produce, so long as the economics of bamboo offer decent returns to land and labour, equitable deals can be struck in the supply chain, and the crop is environmentally sustainable," he said.
While bamboo production in Asia carries connotations of unsustainable forestry practices and illegal logging, Inbar is working to share lessons learned and bring bamboo production in Africa's market up to the highest standards.
"Sustainable management of a country's bamboo sector is extremely important to the future of a country's market, especially if that country is wanting to export its products to the European market, where laws stipulate conformity to high sustainability standards," Hoogendoorn said.
As the industrial development of bamboo in Africa is in its infancy, investors have until recently been cautious about ploughing large amounts of money into a market whose dividends are relatively unknown.
"We are ready for the same industrial revolution in bamboo development that Ethiopia is experiencing," Andrew Akwasi Oteng-Amoako, chief research scientist at the Forestry Research Institute in Ghana, told IPS.
He lamented that although his west African country has an abundance of bamboo, it has so far failed to secure the same investment as Ethiopia. "We anticipate a revival of investment interest in Ghana's bamboo industry in the near future thanks to Ethiopia's success," Oteng-Amoako said. Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 hour ago.