He
says it’s about time developing countries like Ghana looked at bamboo development
as a resource for environmental protection and for income and foreign exchange generation.
“We
planting the bamboo is also re-growing the forest in the rural area; some
people are being employed at the bamboo plantation as well,” he said. “It’s
also having environmental benefits to the community because bamboo absorbs a
lot of carbon than a lot of the other plants”.
Bamboo
is the fastest growing canopy for re-greening of degraded lands. Plantation of
bamboo also provides nutrition for humans and animals and helps improve air and
water quality, which leads to environmental sustainability.
According
to the International Network on Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), although bamboo is botanically
a woody grass and not a tree, bamboo forests have comparable features to other
types of forest regarding their role in the carbon cycle.
Kwabena
Danso’s Boomers International, for instance, is focused on developing the value
chain for the bamboo plant – from the roots to the leaves.
The
enterprise is currently growing a 20 acre bamboo plantation in the Ashanti
region to support the sustainable supply of raw materials for the production of
bamboo bikes and to support rural community development.
Mr.
Danso, however, says a national drive in bamboo development will be beneficial.
“If
Ghana wants to mitigate some of our climate change issues, the ultimate
solution is bamboo development because bamboo takes such a short period to
mature so you can use it and it regenerates by itself; you don’t have to
replant,” he stated.
Ghana’s
bamboo is twice stronger than other species found in the world, according to research
by Columbia University.
The
country can therefore take advantage of this by learning from the Chinese
example, where bamboo development is a huge industry for job creation and
environmental protection.
The
bamboo bikes from Mr. Danso’s workshop are recognized globally to be
environmentally friendly because the bikes require less electricity and need no
hazardous chemicals, compared to the production of traditional steel bicycles.
An
upscale of such projects will position Ghana to generate a billion dollar
revenue annually from the export of value added bamboo and rattan products.
By
Kofi Adu Domfeh
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