FORTUNE+ VIDEO SPONSORED CONTENTS ADVERTORIALS FORTUNE AUDIO Fortune Careers New TRADE AFRICA New

Fortune Logo
The strategic action plan document foresees increasing the national bamboo forest coverage by 14pc from the existing 1.4 million hectares.

The Ethiopian government is introducing a 10-year strategy to develop the bamboo industry. The strategy, which has been developed over the past three years, is scheduled for implementation beginning this year.

The strategy envisions which envisages bamboo becoming a major export commodity and supporting environmental rehabilitation, is expected to be approved by the Environment, Forest & Climate Change Commission in the coming week.

The ministries of Trade & Industry and Revenues, the Ethiopian Investment Commission, the Ethiopian Standard Agency, private investors and NGOs have participated in the drafting of the strategy. The Ethiopian Forest Policy & Strategy, Ethiopian Forest Development, Conservation & Utilisation proclamation and the Forest Sector Development Programme provided as inputs for the current strategy.


The strategic action plan document foresees increasing the national bamboo forest coverage by 14pc from the existing 1.4 million hectares. It also plans to sustainably manage 200,000ha of existing bamboo cover, create employment opportunities for half a million people and grow income from the sector by 10pc annualy.

Increasing public awareness of the resource and improving the capacity of the growers involved in the entire value chain is also one of the objectives of the strategy.




Bamboo, which reaches full growth maturity in three to five years and is fast reproduction, has been used for subsistence by smallholder farmers for building fences, traditional houses, basic furniture and household tools, according to Fiker Assefa, a Bamboo expert at International Network for Bamboo & Rattan (INBAR).


Tsinghua, a research university in Beijing, and INBAR conducted an inventory of bamboo in Ethiopia in 2018, which found that there are three million hectares of potential land for bamboo development. While there are 1,642 known species of the plant around the world, it is generally classified as two types in Ethiopia, lowland and highland bamboo.

There is a market for value-added bamboo, including for flooring, toothpicks, table mats and incense sticks.

“It is the only plant that fulfils all the three necessities, shelter, food and clothing,” said Fiker.


Even though Ethiopia has the largest bamboo forest cover in Africa, insiders point out that it is unutilised. While earning less than a quarter of a million dollars from the export of bamboo poles, the nation imports on average 5.7 million dollars of bamboo plywood, pulp and paper, furniture and flooring.

Messay Mulugeta (Prof.), lecturer and researcher for more than a decade and a half in Addis Abeba University's College of Development Studies, appreciates the focus the industry is being given.

“Preparing a specific strategy for the industry is the best way of ensuring utilisation of the resource to the maximum,” he said.


PUBLISHED ON Apr 26,2019 [ VOL 20 , NO 991]

[ratemypost]


Related Posts

Editors' Pick

Exclusive Interviews

State Enterprises from Oracles to Apprentices

Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW

Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...

Agenda

Rising Costs, Inflation Threaten Insurance Industry

Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO

Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...

Agenda

BREWING DISCONTENT

Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW

Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...

Fortune News

Electric Vehicle Push Leaves Investors in the Lurch

Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO

Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...

Commentaries

A Trade War Hits the Flower Aisle. Ethiopia Feels the Thorns

President Donald Trump's decision to impose new tariffs has prompted U.S. customs age...

Start-Up Fever Threatens to Undermine the Public Sector's Core Mission

Around the world, governments are trying to reinvent themselves in the image of a bus...

Fineline

Leaders of the National . . .

Leaders of the National Election Board are in a charm offensive mood, of a sort. Last week, they organised a rare tour for members of the me...

When the country’s most. . .

When the country's most senior diplomats and envoys return back to their posts after two-week debriefings, they leave behind a point or two...

Editorial

Officials Bank on Student Service to Patch a Fractured Country

Apr 13 , 2025

The federal government will soon require one year of national service from university...

Cheap Power Lures Bitcoin Miners. But Millions Wait for a Lightbulb Moment

Apr 6 , 2025

Last week, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group...

Media Council's Edging to Accreditation a Deceitful Drift

Mar 30 , 2025

When the private satellite channel, Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS), aired an em...

Preventing War Far Cheaper Than Paying Its Deadly Price

Mar 23 , 2025

Getachew Redda, head of the Tigray Interim Regional Administration (TIRA), at least u...

Gallery

Parliament Approves New Cabinet Members

Oct 6 , 2021

Parliament Approves New Cabinet, Incorporates Opposition Leaders Lawmakers have approved today the nominations of 22 ministers, including three opposition leaders. Two MPs have voted against, while 12 abstained...

2020 in Posterity

Jan 5 , 2021

TIGRAY VOTES DESPITE "NULL & VOID" THREAT

Sep 9 , 2020

IN-PICTURE: LAUREATE'S RECEPTION  

Dec 14 , 2019

PM Abiy Ahmed (PhD) at a Gala Dinner Called for the Awarding of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

May 6 , 2019

Faces, Voices of Addis Abeba

Apr 26 , 2019

Sunday With Eden

Grace Over Grind

Over the weekend, I attended a women's gathering that quietly reshaped how I think about balance, ambition, motherhood, and the kind of life...

Breaking Bread, Sharing Hearts

Almost a year ago, my husband and I sat in the living room of a dear friend who had just suffered an unimaginable loss. She had lost a very...

Life Matters

The Awkward Art of Saying Hello

Living side by side with others – sharing walls, staircases, even the same unreliable electricity – should make greetings feel natural....

Showers Are Optional, Guilt Is Not

It's funny how life throws your pre-baby notions right out the window. I vividly remember joking with a friend, back in my carefree days, ab...