Bamboo and rattan experts from China are sharing best practices with Cameroonian stakeholders on how the products, hitherto neglected and which the country has in huge quantities, could be harnessed to give a push to socio-economic development. This is notably in the green economy drive, efforts to restore land for agriculture and in job and wealth creation for the unemployed or underemployed citizens.

Professor Zhou GuoMo of Zhejiang Forestry University and Wang Xiaoli, Director of Yunnan Academy of Scientific and Technology Research will on August 11 – 12, 2016, alongside other experts, explore possibilities for adopting existing carbon accounting methodologies for bamboo afforestation/reforestation projects in Cameroon.

This is within a framework of a “Bamboo Carbon Forestry, Landscape Restoration and Sustainable Use” workshop billed for Cameroon’s political capital, Yaounde from August 11-12, 2016. It is jointly organised by a China-based International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) and the government of Cameroon in partnership with China Green Carbon Fund for all countries of the Congo Basin Forest Commission (COMIFAC).

The international workshop groups private sector investors, bamboo entrepreneurs, bamboo carbon forestry experts, government officials and other stakeholders. They are also sharing best practices on greenhouse gas emissions reduction standards.

In an interview granted Cameroon Tribune (Cameroon’s state-owned national bilingual daily newspaper), through its reporter in Beijing, China, INBAR’s Director General Hans Friederich said, “Cameroon has abundant bamboo resources and is actively exploring ways to sustainably exploit these plants.” The workshop, he added, “will help establish Cameroon as one of Africa’s leading bamboo and rattan-producing countries, joining other regional leaders such as Ghana and Ethiopia.”

Information garnered on INBAR’s website indicates that, “in China alone, the domestic bamboo sector is now worth US$ 19.5 billion per year and provides employment to 7.75 million people. In India, roughly 8.6 million people are also dependent on bamboo for their livelihood.”

Mr. Hans Friederich observed that bamboo demonstrates significant potential as a strategic resource for sustainable development in Cameroon and across Africa. “Cameroon has significant reserves of largely untapped indigenous bamboo, and excellent conditions for growing cultivated species,” he said. The plant is said to provide a practical and rapid solution for a number of the natural resource and poverty challenges faced by many African countries.

Its rapid growth rate and shallow root system make it a highly effective resource for slowing degradation and repairing damaged ecosystems; it offers climate change mitigation/adaptation strategies and acts as an effective ‘carbon sink’; and both bamboo and rattan could support the development of pro-poor, green economies. “Bamboo, for instance, has over 10,000 documented uses and can be used in the manufacture of a broad range of products, thereby supporting rural livelihoods and helping to eradicate poverty,” INBAR’s Director General said in an interview.

Cameroon and INBAR in December 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the development of the products in a green economy. This explains why the Yaounde workshop is being preceded by a training of bamboo and rattan artisans in Cameroon on ‘Product innovation, quality and marketing.

By GODLOVE BAINKONG