{"id":4754,"date":"2019-08-20T15:37:57","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T12:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=4754"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:30:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:30:29","slug":"bamboo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2019\/08\/20\/bamboo\/","title":{"rendered":"Bamboo Farming: Million Dollar Business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rapid depletion of fossil fuels and\nthe need to protect the global environment from climate change has resulted in\nthe urgency to seek alternative sources of fuels. This is to meet increasing\nenergy demand in a fast-developing Africa. The problem is that most sub-Saharan countries rely on non-renewable\nfuels<\/a> as the main\nsource of energy- oil, gas, and coal- to generate electricity. However,\nrecently the dependence on fossil fuels has gradually been replaced with\ncleaner and more sustainable sources of energy. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bamboo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet and produces large amounts of biomass- making it an ideal source of energy. Tropical bamboos can be harvested after just three years, compared to the time taken to generate a timber forest. A single bamboo pole can provide rudimentary power<\/a> to a rural household for a month. Also, they can provide a fast economic return from rural households due to the ability of most species to grow on marginal lands in conjunction with agriculture aside from the biological advantages of slope stabilization and carbon sequestration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read also: A Twisted Reality- Coal Power In Kenya Is A Fuss<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could bamboo provide an answer to energy\npoverty in many parts of a developing Africa?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bamboo grows naturally across Africa and may present a viable, clean and sustainable alternative to fuelwood.  More than 600 million people in Africa live without electricity and<\/a> about 80% come from the rural areas while biomass fuels are generally portrayed for their negative impacts- linked to deforestation, land degradation amongst other ill effects.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bamboo charcoal is a viable, clean and sustainable alternative to fuelwood and may be key to combating soil degradation and massive deforestation in Africa|photo|pixabay.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sub-Saharan Africa has over 2.75 million hectares of bamboo forest,<\/a> equivalent to roughly 4 percent of the continents total forest cover. unlike trees, bamboo regrows after harvest and lends itself very well to energy plantations on degraded lands. This should be used to provide clean energy for the continent.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why promote bamboo for biomass energy?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bamboo has numerous livelihood benefits, including providing local\nemployment and helping people to protect the land. it can also be burnt\non-demand, removing the need for energy storage.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bamboo takes around four years to mature, making it ideal for\nrestoration efforts. It is also an indigenous species throughout tropics and\nsub-tropics, native to Africa, Asia, and the Americas. In terms of biomass for\nenergy generations, in rainfed systems, bamboo can yield from 5 to 40 tonnes per hectare per\nyear<\/a>. In irrigated plantations,\nthis yield can increase to 100 tonnes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bamboo pellets can also be used in fuel production which will see a decrease in the use of fossil fuels|photo|woodpelletline.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Bamboo charcoal is a viable, clean and sustainable alternative to\nfuelwood and may be key to combating soil degradation and massive deforestation\nin. Bamboo pellets can also be used in fuel production which will see a\ndecrease in the use of fossil fuels.  Also, Bamboo\ncharcoal could provide an excellent alternative to hardwood charcoal production\nas bamboo biomass production is much greater and considerably more sustainable.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes 7\nto 10 tonnes of raw wood to produce one tonne of wood charcoal, making fuelwood\ncollection an important driver of deforestation in Africa, a continent of\nnearly one billion people who have few alternative fuel sources. About 80% of\nthe rural population in sub-Saharan Africa depends on forest wood for fuel, and\nscientists believe that deforestation across the Horn of Africa, particularly\nfor firewood harvest, has contributed to the pervasive drought in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial\nsuccesses with bamboo\ncharcoal in Ethiopia and Ghana,<\/a> which have put\nbamboo biomass at the center of renewable energy policies are spurring interest\nin countries across the continent and prompting calls for greater investment in\nbamboo-based charcoal production as a \u2018green biofuel\u2019 that can fight\ndeforestation and mitigate climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China is a\nglobal leader in the production and use of bamboo charcoal. The sector is worth\nthe estimated US $1 Billion a year and employs over 60, 000 people in more than\n1000 businesses. A partnership among African nations and communities, the international network for bamboo and rattan<\/a> and china are working to substitute hardwood with bamboo\ncharcoal to meet firewood needs in rural communities.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several\nAfrican countries are pressing for the development of their bamboo charcoal\nindustries are pressing for the development of their bamboo charcoal industries\nto provide sustainable, affordable energy for growing populations. Building on\nbamboo energy solutions could help Africa in achieving clean energy solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rapid depletion of fossil fuels and the need to protect the global environment from climate change has resulted in the urgency to seek alternative sources of fuels. This is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-responsibility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}