(3 Minutes Read)
Apart from a cheap source of fuel, particularly for the rural folks, the wonder tree is taking pressure off dwindling forest reserves of eucalyptus and other natural resources
Bamboo farming is on the rise in Uganda, where the hardy and fast-growing crop is seen by the government as having real growth potential. Apart from a cheap source of fuel, particularly for the rural folks, the wonder tree is taking pressure off dwindling forest reserves of eucalyptus and other natural resources.
Conservationists say it’s a hardy plant and a cash crop that can grow almost anywhere. Its uses are many and varied ranging from making furniture to toothpicks. Bamboo furniture factories dotted in the East African country provide year- long all seasons jobs to the local people, besides contributing smartly to the country’s exports.
People make a few products from bamboo such as pen, cups, trophies, sculptures which have incredibly large uses. Some of the bamboo species grown in Uganda are imported from Asia, but many – like one whose shoots are smoked and then boiled to make a popular traditional meal in eastern Uganda – grow wild.
Bamboo plants are normally ready for harvesting in three to five years, and a well-maintained plantation can be useful for at least 50 years. Unlike eucalyptus — a tall flowering plant widely planted for its timber, there is no bamboo season. Bamboo grows faster than eucalyptus and regenerates like a weed. It also can thrive in poor soil.
A single bamboo pole brings a little less than a dollar. So farmers need to grow a lot of it to earn enough. Bamboo promoters are urging them to see a bamboo plantation as the same kind of cash crop as coffee or tea estates. Banks are offering bamboo plantation capital to clients, loans that promise ownership of substantial acres of bamboo. Bamboo seedlings are now more widely available via private nursery beds.
Read Also:
Still, Uganda’s bamboo plantations aren’t growing fast enough to build an industry around the plant. The Ugandan government has set a 10-year policy that calls for planting 300,000 hectares (about 1,100 square miles) of bamboo, most of it on private land, by 2029 as part of wider reforestation efforts. The Uganda Bamboo Association, the largest such group with 340 members, has planted only 500 hectares.
