Kenya boosts bamboo farming with seedlings

NAIROBI, KENYA: More counties are set to grow bamboo for commercial and domestic use after the Ministry of Environment said it would fund its production. Already, Sh2 million has been set aside by the ministry through the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kefri) for this purpose.

Lake Victoria Eco-region Research Programme Director Robert Nyambati said Sh2 million has been set aside by the Ministry of Environment through Kefri for the production of Bamboo trees. The Nyayo Tea Zones Development Corporation has also initiated bamboo project to grow the plant as a source of bio-mass energy for both domestic and industrial consumption.

“The corporation intends to review the areas under assorted trees to determine which plantations may be unsuitably sited in environmentally sensitive areas with a view to replacing them with the more ‘friendly’ bamboo,” says a statement from the corporation.This will protect the environmentally sensitive areas and provide bio-mass energy for both domestic and industrial consumption. Key consumers of biomass energy in the Tea Zones include rural households, schools, hotels and tea factories.

The project has already been piloted on three plots totaling 10 hectares in Embu Tea Zones at Kiye, Benjamin and Muthigi blocks. Bamboo has over 1,000 documented uses both at domestic and industrial levels.

RIPARIAN AREAS

The corporation nursery at Kinale, in Kiambu County, is already producing indigenous bamboo species intended for planting in the riparian areas with the Tea Zones. The key project areas of interest are Nyayo Tea Zones in Mt Kenya, Nyambene, Mau Forest, Nandi, Mt Elgon and Cheranganyi areas.

The project is also intended to engage the peri-forest communities in production of both seedlings and on-farm bamboo poles as a way to improve their livelihoods. The arrangement will see these communities provided with the capacity to facilitate their participation in the project.

Key collaborators on this project include the Kenya Forest Research Institute, Kenya Forest Service, and the Kenya Tea Development Agency at the implementation level. Bungoma County has partnered with Norway to introduce bamboo growing in the Mt Elgon region. Bungoma Deputy Governor Hillary Chong’wony said they talked with investors from Norway, who have expressed interest to introduce the crop for both conservation and commercial value.”The Norwegian investors, who paid us a courtesy call three weeks ago, have a new technology of making electricity power poles from bamboo stems.”

He said the county government will promote bamboo as an alternative cash crop, by giving subsidised seedlings to farmers to encourage them to grow the plant.

While Kefri will provide research information and guide on proper species selection for different areas within the buffer zones, Kenya Forest Service is the custodian of all state forest lands and therefore a key partner. KTDA is a major consumer of the fuel wood grown in the Nyayo Tea Zones and can also facilitate engagement of peri-forest tea growing farmers.

POWER POLES

They are also key source of household and industrial energy, building materials and furniture. It is even used as a source of animal and human food among many other uses. Commercially, the plant, scientifically called Dendrocalamus giganteus is used for various purposes including electricity power poles from bamboo stems, fencing, making furniture, construction of houses as for walls and firewood among other uses.

Bamboo has also been used as feed for cattle and other livestock for hundreds of years. Its complex root system can act as a good water filter, removing nutrients and dangerous poisons such as heavy metals and not get it into the food chain. A three meters pole can sell up to Sh2,500.