Bamboo and rattan have huge potential to help transform the lives of millions of people around the world, particularly women and children. These plants can be made into many products with little investment in the home, are a valuable source of fuelwood and charcoal for cooking and are easily harvestable.

1. Changing the lives of
women and youth with
bamboo and rattan
10 Feb 2017

2. Bamboo and rattan:
strategic resources for development
• 1.21 metres a day - maximum daily
growth rate of some bamboos
• 3-6 years – Growth time needed for
bamboo poles to be harvested
• >10,000 – estimated uses of bamboo
• 83% -of rattan grows in South-East Asia
• 7.5 m employed in China’s bamboo sector
• $60 billion/yr – estimated value of
global bamboo and rattan trade
Why is this important?...

3. Bamboo and rattan as ‘game
changers’ for…
• Rural development
– Sustainable source of income
– Already employs millions
– Big potential to do more! USD60 billion
annual trade
• … Particularly for women
• Lightweight
• Splits linearly
• Women smallholders can engage in a
variety of value chains with low capital
investments
• Can be grown as part of a homestead
• Helps to diversify incomes
• Women-owned collectives
– India, group producing incense sticks: 150,000
jobs
– Tanzania: 100 nurseries, micro-enterprises,
and training for 1000 people in bamboo
charcoal production

4. Changing lives with bamboo and
rattan (1)
Guizhou Chishui Zhuyun Bamboo
Furniture – Guizhou, China
- Established 2012
- 200 hectares of land to grow
bamboo >> furniture
- Side business from byproducts
(fungus, chickens)
- 100% used – no waste!
- Overall output 30 million RMB
p/a. Farmers: 3.5-5k RMB per
month

5. Changing lives with bamboo and
rattan (2)
Innovating with rattan – Ghana
- Most rattan sellers in Ghana work on
roadsides. Importance of marketability of
products. This means: quality and good
production methods
- 2008 INBAR report: review and
recommendations for rattan sector in
Ghana and Togo, + training for 24 rattan
producers
Results:
• Higher-quality, more marketable products
• Government of Ghana decided to invest in
Centres for rattan producers
• Government recognises the sector as a
legitimate avenue for job creation
• Ongoing training and business support

6. Changing lives with bamboo and
rattan (3)
Incense stick production –
Tripura, India
- Value-added incense stick production
- Women-led collectives
- 2008: c.1,400 women had found
steady, first time employment in
organised clusters
- Increase in monthly incomes: USD0-
0.56 pre-employment to USD 29-89
(full-time workers).

7. (continued) Bamboo and rattan as
‘game changers’ for…
• Construction
– Ecuador: 15% bamboo structures damaged in 2015
earthquake
– Bhutan: bamboo demo houses use less wood than
timber-framed houses, cost half the price, and last for
minimum 20-25 years
• Climate-smart
– Less carbon-intensive than many materials; valuable
carbon ‘sink’; fast-growing and so renewable resource
• Reforestation and land restoration
– Bonn Challenge
– INBAR in Allahabad, India
• Energy
– Two ways: (i) Bamboo charcoal and (ii) bamboo
biomass for electricity
– Madagascar – 25-kW gasifier being built: can power
200 households to light 2 to 3 bulbs

8. Building back better: post-
disaster construction in Nepal
- 2015 earthquake: 8 million people affected;
500,000 structures in need of reconstruction
- New INBAR initiative – using bamboo
resources to rebuild houses and promote
sustainable livelihoods
- 5 schools, 10 transitional schools, 5
permanent houses, Bamboo Research Lab
- Using technical expertise from China, as well
as traditional bamboo construction
techniques from Latin American countries
Changing lives with bamboo and
rattan (4)

9. INBAR: who we are

11. INBAR: what we do
• Raising the profile of bamboo and rattan. Bamboo
and rattan have an image problem. They are very
strategic resources – but are currently underutilised.
• Development: Helping our Members identify
opportunities for economic growth, livelihoods
support, reforestation or environmental improvement
using bamboo.
• Research: what resources do we have? How can we
manage them? What can we do with them?
BARC: Bamboo and Rattan Congress in Beijing, 2018

13. Why are we based in China?
• Only INGO with a Headquarters in Beijing
• Unique position: an international treaty; a development
organisation; & an International Commodity Body
• Many livelihoods in China to support and improve…
• … But also around the world in our 41 other Member states
• ‘South South Cooperation’: new emphasis in international
development on developing countries working together to solve
problems
• Technical expertise and resource sharing

14. Thank you!
www.inbar.int