Bamboo plant heralds gainful venture

A Nyeri bamboo seedlings farmer explains the process of propagating the plant in his greenhouse. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Bamboo growing and processing are important commercial activities with the potential to significantly change the social and economic fortunes of our communities.

  • A fully developed bamboo value chain will directly support manufacturing, aiding economic growth and creating jobs for the youth.

Last week, there was a ground-breaking ceremony for a bamboo processing factory in Tharaka-Nithi County — an event which, on the face of it, looks like a routine assignment for the Kenya Forest Service (KFS). 

But this was a momentous event in view of the long-drawn out efforts to get the commercialisation of Kenya’s bamboo sector up and running had finally reached a definitive pitch.

Bamboo growing and processing are important commercial activities with the potential to significantly change the social and economic fortunes of our communities while providing unrivalled safeguards against environmental degradation.

Bamboo forests, even when planted in small parcels of land by farming communities, help to control soil erosion, conserve biodiversity, beautify landscapes and essentially contribute to purification and regulation of the environment.

REDUCE POVERTY

The KFS has taken the bold step to support — and even partner with — the private sector in order to achieve the policy provisions in key national blueprints in the forest sector.

This is in particular reference to the Kenya Vision 2030 and its medium-term plans (MTPs), whose aim is to reduce poverty and propel the country to middle-income status. The vision covers the forestry sector under the Social Pillar and sets the target of attaining 10 per cent forest cover by 2030.

The programmes for implementation to attain these targets include development of plantation forests in State forest areas, conservation and protection of natural forests and farm and dryland forestry.

Clearly, if we are to expand the forest cover, then we can only do it by encouraging landowners, large or small, to invest in forestry since there are limitations in creating public forests on a significantly large scale.

Besides pursuing our national policy objectives, Kenya is also part of global initiatives aimed at restoring landscapes that have been deforested and degraded through unsustainable utilisation, including over-cultivation, overgrazing, forest fires and other poor land management practices.

RESTORE LAND

A notable undertaking that we are proud to actively participate in is the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, or AFR100 — a programme coordinated by the African Union that seeks to restore 100 million hectares of land across the continent.

In addition, in 2016, under the Paris Agreement, Kenya committed itself to restore 5.1 million hectares, or 9 per cent, of the country’s total landmass, following the completion of a national restoration opportunity assessment that also identified the options.

These options include rehabilitation of degraded natural forests, introducing agroforestry and woodlots on cropland and commercial tree and bamboo farming.

We expect the factory being built by GreenPot Enterprises Limited to provide a critical impetus for widespread adoption of bamboo farming. Farmers who have been hesitant to grow bamboo due to uncertainty about the market for their produce now have every reason to set aside land for this lucrative commercial farming activity.

CUT DOWN TREES

We also expect a significant reduction in the pressure to cut down trees for energy, construction and furniture-making since these products will now be made available cost-effectively and sustainably through development and utilisation of bamboo products.

One of the enduring advantages of bamboo is that it is a highly renewable resource. Even as you harvest what is mature, it continues to regenerate.

And as far as our public forests are concerned, we expect utilisation of the mature bamboo as the initial feedstock for industrial processing to help us to resolve the perpetual challenge of forest fire risks brought about by the accumulation of huge stocks of dead bamboo.

FOOD SECURITY

President Uhuru Kenyatta has laid out the four priority areas for the government that will form the focus of investment and development for transforming Kenya. These are food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and healthcare.

A fully developed bamboo value chain will directly support manufacturing, aiding economic growth and creating jobs for the youth.

KFS desires to be an effective catalyst for the development of sustainable industrial and commercial activities around the forestry sector, thereby contributing significantly to the socio-economic transformation of our country.

 Mr Mugo is the Chief Conservator of Forests, Kenya Forest Service (KFS). www.kenyaforestservice.org.