Bamboo cultivation is experiencing a boom in Uganda, bringing with it a wave of promising economic opportunities.

The government sees in this resilient, fast-growing plant a real potential for growth, while local authorities highlight its utility as a fuel source in rural communities, thereby helping to alleviate pressure on declining forest reserves, mainly composed of eucalyptus and other natural resources.

Environmental advocates praise bamboo as a resilient plant capable of growing almost anywhere, while businesses see it as a lucrative crop with diverse applications, from furniture to toothpicks.

Taga Nuwagaba, a farmer and entrepreneur, owns a bamboo furniture factory near the Ugandan capital, Kampala. "It's an incredibly versatile material," he says. "We make some products, but we could make many more. Tables, chairs, pens made from the part of bamboo that is not normally used, cups, trophies, sculptures...".

While some bamboo species cultivated in Uganda are imported from Asia, many, like those that produce smoked shoots then boiled to make a popular traditional dish in the eastern part of the country, grow wild.

A few kilometers from Mbarara, in western Uganda, a commercial farm includes a seven-acre bamboo plot. The plants on Kitara farm are well-maintained, and a stock of 10,000 bamboo canes awaits sale.

The caretaker, Joseph Katumba, explains that the property has become a sort of demonstration farm for those wishing to learn more about bamboo. Bamboo plants are typically ready for harvest in three to five years, and a well-maintained plantation can be useful for at least fifty years, Katumba explains.

After our research on bamboo, we found that when you plant bamboo at 12 years old...," he says, highlighting the long-term benefits of bamboo cultivation compared to eucalyptus.

Unlike eucalyptus, a flowering plant widely planted here for its wood, there is no specific season for bamboo. It grows faster than eucalyptus and regenerates like a weed, thriving even in poor soils.

Kitara Farm stopped planting new lots of eucalyptus while its bamboo area continues to expand. However, Nuwagaba asserts that the market needs to be expanded to convince more people about the benefits of bamboo cultivation.

I have some neighbors who have tried to grow bamboo but so far, people still struggle to understand its use and viability in the market," he says. "People need to be more informed about bamboo

A single bamboo pole generates just under a dollar, which means farmers must cultivate a lot to earn enough. Bamboo promoters urge them to consider bamboo plantation as the same type of lucrative crop as coffee or tea plantations.

Despite the growing interest in bamboo cultivation, Ugandan plantations are not growing fast enough to develop an industry around the plant. The Ugandan government has established a decade-long policy to plant 300,000 hectares of bamboo by 2029, mainly on private land, as part of broader reforestation efforts.

It's an ambitious goal. The Uganda Bamboo Association, the largest group of its kind with 340 members, has only planted 500 hectares. Even with the growing interest in bamboo cultivation, authorities will need to encourage more farmers from rural areas of Uganda to plant extensive bamboo areas.

Article source:africanews