The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) said to factories are to export Ethiopian bamboo products to overseas. Speaking at relevant meeting on Tuesday, MoTI State Minister, Tadesse Haile said bamboo resource in Ethiopia accounts for 67 per cent of that in Africa. The meeting will be deliberating on bamboo development projects in Africa in general and in Ethiopia and Kenya in particular. In Ethiopia bamboo projects are implemented under the micro and small-scale enterprises scheme. It was indicated on the occasion that bamboo plantations contribute towards alleviating the adverse impacts of climate change.

State Minister of Trade and Industry Tadesse Haile said development and efficient utilization of bamboo tree will contribute a lot towards reducing poverty as well as improving the livelihood of the society. The minister made the statement while opening a half-day workshop on five year bamboo tree development strategy of the nation. He said the five year strategy will play crucial role in disseminating knowledge and improved technologies in bamboo development sector to the local people and encourage investors to engage in the sector. According to the state minister some entrepreneurs have already launched investment projects and registered tangible results in the sector.

Elderly groups and Local officials giving tributes to EABP and its fruitful results in Bamboo development

Monday, 19 January 2009

Addis Ababa, January 19 (WIC) – Members of the House of People & Representatives (HPR) said that it is imperative to step up efforts so as to efficiently tap the country’s bamboo resources. While visiting the Eastern Africa Bamboo Project (EABP) members of the Agriculture and Rural Development standing committee of the house through their representative, Tsegaye Brhane said that the efforts being made to exploit the country’s bamboo resources should further be strengthened. He said that activities being carried out to improve the livelihood of farmers should be stepped-up by integrating bamboo development with the industrial sector. The representative also appreciated efforts the EABP is making in collaboration with the Federal Micro and Small Enterprises Development Agency (FeMSEDA) and non-governmental organizations. National coordinator of EABP, Melaku Tadesse also on the occasion said that the visit was organized to observe the results achieved and the challenges faced by the project. Ethiopia possesses close to 67 per cent of the bamboo resource of Africa, the coordinator said, and added that the nation could generate about 12 billion birr annually from its bamboo resources. The national coordinator also pointed out that various trainings were provided on the development of bamboo in various parts of the country by foreign trainers so as to boost the economic benefit of the country. Members of the House visited the bamboo training center at FeMSEDA, the bamboo products center which is the first of its kind in the country and the bamboo seed germination unit at the Debrezeit Agricultural research center.

The two sides discussed issues of concern on the development and promotion of agriculture and industry particularly in some sub-sectors including leather, oil seed and bamboo production.

During the discussion Meles appreciated UNIDO’s role to promote Ethiopia’s leather products and agro-processing unit.

The government of Ethiopia is grateful to the organization’s support through providing capacity building and other development assistances, Meles said.

UNIDO is undertaking various programs in Ethiopia to promote the country’s agricultural subsectors in the areas of cereal production, leather products and bamboo.

It is also undertaking various activities to promote design industry in Ethiopia.

UNIDO Director General told reporters that his organization is working to advance the idea of promoting Ethiopia’s brand to the world.

UNIDO wants to scale-up designing sector in Ethiopia particularly in the private sector, which highly engages in the business.

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H.E. Mr. Tadesse Haile, State Minister of MoTI-FDRE

Handing over certificates to 50 farmers, trained in making modern furniture from bamboo plant, Tadesse said local and foreign demand for furniture made of bamboo plant has been steadily increasing.

Hence, conditions are being facilitated to provide technical and material assistance to farmers so as to enable them benefit from the resource.

Bamboo furniture manufacturing company being established in Assosa Town helped to increase interest of farmers to participate in bamboo development.

East Africa Bamboo plant development project coordinator, Melaku Tadese on his part said new species of bamboo plant imported to develop them in three regional states favorable for bamboo development.

Some of the trainees said the training was helpful to them to effectively use the plant thereby change their livelihood. Some 50 farmers drawn from Assosa Town attended the training.

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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Following the increase of commercial and residential building construction in the country that was led to ever-increasing demand of bamboo products for finishing materials, a local investor has launched a 50 million birr investment on a bamboo processing factory.

A local company, Mirga Wood Industry, is to construct a factory on 3 hectares in Egere, Addis Alem, 40 kms from Addis Ababa. The factory plans to start with products such as floor parquet, incense sticks and toothpicks from bamboo.

“Once we meet the local demand our target is to provide most of our products for the export market,” says Ephrem Gugsa, owner of Mirga Wood Industry. When the factory begins production, it is expected to employ some 100 permanent employees in its early phase.

Currently, some one million hectares of land in Ethiopia is covered by bamboo plantation of smallholder farmers. Out of this, 850,000 hectares of land is covered by low land bamboo, known for its high fiber content, while the rest is covered with a medium density fiber.
Realizing this potential, prior to Mirga Wood Industry, Land and Sea Development Company (LSDC), an Indian, Chinese and Ethiopian joint venture has finalized construction of a bamboo processing factory in Assosa area, Benishangul Region, which primarily produces paper and pulp. Afro-Asian, which is constructing a Trolley (electric) Bus factory located near the town of Metekel also plans to floor board bamboo that is expected to be produced by LSDC.

These days, due to the strength and long quality services, many train and bus manufacturers choose floor board bamboo for their products interior equipments such as chairs, etc.

The global application of bamboo products in both office and household furniture is also showing increment. Cement particle board, bamboo curtains, floor board, floor parquet, toothpicks and tools handlings such as hammer and screwdriver, etc are among the major applications of bamboo.

Dejen Endowment, a company in the Maichew area of Tigray Region and another MIDROC company are also among the major companies engaged in processing bamboo and eucalyptus for various applications. More than 250,000 hectares of land in the country is believed to be covered by eucalyptus.

“Should Ethiopia continues supporting investors realizing the abundant bamboo resource, in two years time the country will become the leading African nation in using the resource effectively, exceeding South Africa,” says Seyoum Kelemework (PhD), Researcher at Agricultural Research Organization.

Source: Capital (Aug 21, 2007)

A bamboo processing plant, set up in Benishangul Gumuz Regional State of Ethiopia, is to start production in the coming two months. The plant would start with chopsticks, doors and flooring tiles. It is the first to produce such items from the ample bamboo resource in the region.

Land and Sea Development- Ethiopia (LSDE) the owner of the plant, is also looking for other partners for another venture.
The factory would produce export standard chopsticks, flooring tiles and doors for export with ample quantity.

Michael Gebru founder and director of LSDE told Capital that the company would be harvesting and re-planting bamboo, hybrid eucalyptus and other non-wood crops that could be used in the pulp and paper manufacturing process.

Land and Sea Development Ethiopia (LSDE) Plc is involved in the advanced agricultural sector including bio-fuel plants.
Michael said it was a long journey to take the company at this level and during the setting up of the company. He added that he has faced a lot of difficulties that he almost failed but as he does not want to give a bad example to the diaspora like himself he sacrificed a lot and reversed it to positive under new management.

Evan Peters General Manager of LSDE told Capital that due to the fact the company’s management fragment the company lags time. He added after a new management took over the company progressed quiet rapidly.
The general manger also said that the company after the completion of the factory it would employ about 600 people. In addition to these up to 1000 workers will be working at the bamboo forest harvesting and planting on the nursery site.

According to agro-forest experts the bamboo wealth of Ethiopia is an untapped market.

It is estimated that there are between 800,000 and a million hectares of land that are used to plant bamboo all across the country.
LSDE also last week plated 10,000 seedlings of high quality bamboo in Assosa the seat of the Benishangul Gumuz Regional State.
Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant on Earth. The bamboo can grow three or more inches a day though there are exceptions.

Apart from its use as wood the shoots of bamboo are edible. They are used in numerous Asian dishes and broths, and are available in supermarkets in various sliced forms, both fresh and canned version.
Bamboo leaves are also used as wrappers for zongzi, a steamed dumpling typical of southern China, which usually contains glutinous rice and other ingredients.

The empty hollow in the stalks of larger bamboo is often used to cook food in many Asian cultures. Soups are boiled and rice is cooked in the hollows of fresh stalks of bamboo directly over a flame. Similarly, steamed tea is sometimes rammed into bamboo hollows to produce compressed forms of Pu-erh tea. Cooking food in bamboo is said to give the food a subtle but distinctive taste.

In addition, bamboo is frequently used for cooking utensils within many cultures. In modern times, some see bamboo tools as an eco-friendly alternative to other manufactured utensils.

Bamboo is also used in Chinese medicine for treating infections.
When treated, bamboo forms a very hard wood which is both lightweight and exceptionally durable. In tropical climates it is used in elements of house construction, construction scaffolding, as a substitute for steel reinforcing rods in concrete construction, … Modern companies are also attempting to popularize bamboo flooring made of bamboo pieces steamed, flattened, glued together, finished, and cut.

Besides its use as a construction material, it is also used for fencemaking, bridges, toilets, walking sticks, canoes, tableware, decorative artwork carving, furniture, food steamers, toys, bicycles, hats, and martial arts weaponry, including fire arrows, flame throwers and rockets.

The fiber of bamboo has been used to make paper in China since early times. A high quality hand-made paper is still produced in small quantities. Coarse bamboo paper is still used to make spirit money in many Chinese communities.

Bamboo has also been used in the construction of fishing rods since the mid 1800s. However, following the invention of fiberglass and graphite, bamboo use in fishing rods has declined dramatically. Bamboo is also used to make enclosures in fish farming, where cages can be made from a wooden frame and bamboo lattices.

Source: http://www.capitalethiopia.com/archive/2008/august/week3/local_news.htm#4

Over 2 billion people in the world depend on bamboo everyday.

In Ethiopia communities are being encouraged to plant more bamboo trees and cash in on a growing trade.

Bamboo is one of the most versatile plants in the world. It can be used in construction, furniture or even for food.

A Reuters Africa Journal report(5:10):

For more information please go to the link http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=89493