Bamboo can strengthen, diversify incomes of smallholder farmers
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Bamboo products
Bamboo has the potential to revamp the agricultural sector of Sri Lanka by strengthening and diversifying the incomes of smallholder farmers, an agricultural economist pointed out recently.
Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS), Manoj Thibbotuwawa, speaking at the Stakeholder Workshop on Bamboo Sector Road Map/ Country Action/ Strategic Plan Development, organised by the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) and IPS recently, said that bamboo can help to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change, by providing cleaner biogas, protecting forests and watersheds, absorbing and storing carbon, providing a source of renewable energy, and reducing soil erosion.
This means that bamboo is one of the most valuable non-timber forest products, he said, according to a media release issued by IPS.
Speaking at the event, Training Manager at International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), Jin Wei, noted that bamboo has over 10,000 recorded uses –including construction, energy, textiles, furniture, and crafts, providing income to millions of peoples across the tropics and sub-tropics.
Bamboo can also play a significant role in attaining several of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as ending poverty by creating jobs, providing a source of renewable energy, acting as raw material to build inclusive, safe, and sustainable cities and housing, promoting management and efficient use of natural resources, and helping to face the impacts of climate change, said Sustainable Expert at INBAR, Ralf Kuepper.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Kuepper further noted that bamboo is an undervalued resource and a natural capital that can provide solutions to the developing challenges countries like Sri Lanka face.
However, in Sri Lanka, bamboo is still a cottage industry that has not entered the mass market. Director of the National Craft Council, A.M.S.S.K. Chandrasiri, highlighted that modernising the sector with the latest technology, providing training and skill development to the entrepreneurs, and international exposure is needed for the industry to become competitive globally.