FACTORS AFFECTING THE USE OF BAMBOO AS A RAW MATERIAL

IN COTTAGE INDUSTRIES IN KENYA.

By

Arnold C. Lasit

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background
The growing human population on our planet in combination with an increase of consumption
per capita puts immense pressure on global natural resources. These cause three main interrelated
environmental problems: depletion of resources, deterioration of ecosystems and deterioration of
human health, and their effects. It has therefore become the preoccupation of many to focus
towards sustainable development.

Starting in the 1970s through the alarming warning from the Club of Rome, public awareness
about the environment has increased drastically over the last decades. In 1987 the World
Commission on Environment and Development headed by Brundtland presented the report Our
Common Future (Brundtland et al. 1987) including the - now widely adopted - concept of
sustainable development: “development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Although the report
also emphasized the importance of decreasing the differences in wealth between developed
countries in the “North” and developing countries in the “South”, through a better balance in
economy and ecology, the term “sustainability” was first mostly interpreted in its environmental
meaning (van der Lugt et al 2009).

The increasing global attention towards the potentially devastating effects of climate change has
led to increasing focus on the role of deforestation and land use change. Fuelled by an ever
growing demand for wood products, tropical deforestation continues to increase at an alarming
rate. Deforestation leads to land degradation and eventual lose of the natural resource base on
which most people in Africa depend.

Wood has many uses in Africa and supports almost all human activities including energy
production, construction, trade and manufacturing. In Kenya the wood is mostly used as a raw
material in wood product industries and as a source of fuel. Generally more than 75% of the
country's domestic energy comes from fuel wood and charcoal.(EPZA 2005)

To successfully reverse the current trends of deforestation and forest degradation, it is imperative
that market demands for wood and timber products that cause such land use change, are
addressed. The development of a sustainable supply of timber bamboo such as G. angustifolia,
provides one such solution. It matures in a fraction of the time of tropical hard woods (4yrs
compared to 20+ for species such as teak, mahogany, ironwood, rosewood etc) and with new
technology that enables the processing of bamboo for high end products such as flooring,
decking, construction and furniture, bamboo represents a sustainable alternative. Bamboo can be
processed using simple technology especially for small crafts which means that it can be easily
utilized in small and medium enterprises as no huge amounts of capital are required.

Bamboo is a fast growing, renewable, widespread, low cost, environment enhancing

resource with great potential to improve poverty alleviation and environment conservation.
Bamboo can be utilized at all levels of industrial activity from small craft based industries to
modern highly integrated plants. Bamboo industry is making important contribution in providing
food, housing and income generation for 2.2 billion people in the world. Half of the world’s
population is involved in the use and trade of bamboo products. As the market for environment
friendly green bamboo is growing, it is estimated that the world bamboo market will grow
from its present size of USD10 billion to over 20 billion by 2015 (Xuhe, 2003). Bamboo has
many other benefits to the environment.

If grown under the correct conditions, with a particular focus on the utilization of degraded land
for reforestation initiatives, bamboo’s green credentials are impressive. It not only prevents
further soil degradation and erosion, but it utilizes very low levels of water from the soil, and its
extensive root system acts as a watershed protector.
Furthermore bamboo sequesters significant volumes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
within a relatively short time period. If used for high end wood products, such carbon remains
stored for long time periods, contributing to the fight against climate change. According to Cruz
Rios (2009) the absorption of carbon at one plantation of G.angustifolia is 149.9 tonnes per
hectare in the first 7years which is an average of 21.41 tonnes of carbon per year per hectare and
a natural growth of G.angustifolia with a density of 5755 plants per hectare.

Bamboo is widely used as a material in Asia, South America and Africa, where abundant
different species of bamboo grow. Nowadays, over 2.5 billion people worldwide use or trade in
bamboo worth 4.5 billion US Dollar every year 1(INBAR 1999). For Europeans, bamboo is an
exotic plant, as a material it was even stranger before the sixteenth century when it was first
introduced in Europe. But in other continents like Asia, Africa and South America people have
used bamboo in their daily life for more than thousand years, from bamboo buildings to bamboo
furniture, from bamboo bridges to bamboo foods.

Due to the expected higher annual yields, and the ability of bamboo plantations to be established
on areas of land where trees may not survive (e.g. degraded hill slopes), bamboo may be a
promising alternative to help meet the increasing demand in raw materials and timber in
particular. Bamboo therefore covers most aspects of sustainable development due to its ability to
reduce poverty by providing employment, income, environmental sustainability and provide a
better opportunity for distributional equity.

There are some constraints to the development of the bamboo sector in Kenya. According to the
Forestry Department, bamboo is classified as a minor forest product (Ongugo et al, 2000). This
has slowed the recognition and development of this resource. There has been a slow but steady
progress in the cultivation of exotic bamboo in Kenya. There has been little research done on
bamboo and its benefits to the environment. Little is known on the diversity of bamboo species
and their benefits to the ecosystem both at local and national level.

This paper will seek to understand the factors influencing the use of bamboo in Kenyan cottage
industries and formulate recommendations towards the improvement of bamboo sector in the
country.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Deforestation presents one of the major challenges to environmental sustainability in Kenya.
Kenya is internationally considered to be a low forest cover country as it has less than 10% of its
total land area classified as forest. Forests cover less than 2% of the country’s landmass divided
into natural (about 2 million ha) and plantation forests (about 0.24million ha) (JICA, 2002). This
is attributed to deforestation and poverty.

Wood in Kenya is mostly used as a raw material in industry and for fuel in form of charcoal and
firewood. Majority of the poor people rely more heavily and directly on local natural resources
for their livelihoods than other socioeconomic groups due to lack of alternative livelihood
options accessible to them (Rietbergen et al., 2002). Poverty causes people to rely directly on
the natural resources because of limited options they have access to. Poverty is a major cause and
consequence of the environmental degradation and resource depletion where major
environmental challenges include deforestation, soil degradation and desertification, declining
biodiversity and marine resources (Okwi et al, 2005).

One of the main strategies toward environmental improvement with respect to material use is the
deployment of renewable materials during production. Bamboo, as a fast growing renewable
material with a simple production process, is expected to be a sustainable alternative for more
traditional materials like concrete, steel and timber. The use of bamboo as a raw material
provides a reasonable alternative to the use of hardwood for production of industrial goods.

In the case of Kenya, the opposite is true. The market for bamboo in Kenya is still immature and
hence bamboo remains relatively less unexplored than other wood products. Bamboo products
still lose against imported industrial products in the country. In regards to bamboo there seems to
be a disconnection between the end users, the government institutions and the commercial
bamboo entities with respect to knowledge of bamboo resources.

Despite being a country with vast resources and great potential for developing its raw material
base, Kenya still lags behind in its utilization of bamboo as raw material and therefore bamboo
remains relatively unpopular. Little is known about bamboo partly because there has been
limited research and development of the bamboo sector. In addition, there is inadequate
institutional support towards the development of bamboo products despite the many advantages
bamboo offers over conventional wood products.

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors affecting the use bamboo as a raw material in
cottage industries in Kenya. It will seek to determine the reasons for its slow recognition despite
its many advantages to both man and the environment.

1.3 Research Questions

This study will be guided by the following research questions:

1. What are the sources of bamboo in the Kenya?

2. What are the uses of bamboo in Kenya?

3. What barriers impede the use of bamboo as a raw material in cottage industries?

1.4 Objectives

1.4.1 General objective

The general objective of this research will be to investigate the factors behind the use of bamboo
as a raw material in making of furniture. It seeks to understand why the popularity of bamboo
remains low despite its promising qualities.

1.4.2 Specific objectives

i. To examine bamboo as a resource in industrial production in the Kenyan context.

ii. To identify the sources of bamboo as a raw material in Kenya

iii. To barriers to using bamboo as a raw material in cottage industries.

1.5 Justification of the study
When the World Commission on Environment and Development presented their 1987 report,
Our Common Future, they sought to address the problem of conflicts between environment and
development goals by formulating a definition of sustainable development: Sustainable
development is development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Kenya has experienced its fair share of environmental problems in the face of economic
development which has led to the integration of environmental protection strategies including
environmental acts, establishment of environmental authorities, research and development and
international treaties inter alia.

There have been various initiatives put in place to mitigate impacts of rapid development and
population increase but which have not been completely successful because first they have failed
to be precautionary and they have lacked a holistic approach to cleaner mechanisms. The quest
for renewable energy sources also dictates that better approaches are sought. This has changed
the approach towards the analysis of cleaner production mechanisms. It is now imperative to
consider the life cycle of a raw material in production in determining its environmental
credentials.

The environmental impact of a product depends on all the life cycle stages of the product.
Intuitively one expects that the environmental impact of a material has the most influence on the
production phase of a product caused by raw material provision and factory production.
However, the choice for a specific material in a product also has a strong and direct impact on
other aspects of the product in other stages of the life cycle, such as the processing stage (e.g.
impact on energy impact and efficiency of production technology), use phase (e.g. durability
during life span) and the end-of-life phase (e.g. possibility of recycling, biodegradation, or
generation of electricity at the end of the life span). This shows that materials are intrinsically
linked to every stage of the life cycle of a product.

The physical and environmental properties of bamboo make it an exceptional economic resource
for a wide range of uses. It grows quickly and can be harvested annually without depletion of the
parent plant and without causing harvesting damage or deterioration of the soil. Bamboo can
grow on marginal land, not suitable for traditional agriculture or forestry, or as an agroforestry
crop. It is relatively light weight, because the culms are hollow, and unlike wood can be easily
harvested and transported without specialized equipment or vehicles. Processing normally does
not require highly skilled labour or special qualifications and can be started at a minimal cost
(FAO, 2005).

The government through KEFRI and KFS is encouraging its domestication. However little is
known about the properties of bamboo and its utilization techniques in Kenya which makes
adoption very slow. Overall, there is a low level of awareness on the uses of bamboo and its
benefits to both man and the environment among the Kenyan populace.

Kibwage et al. (2007) examined the structure and performance of formal retail market of bamboo
products in Kenya with specific reference to market segments in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu
cities. The study revealed that most of the bamboo products (toothpicks, baskets, bowls, table
mats, trays, skewers, flower vases and edible shoots) sold in the formal retail market is imported
from China, India and Thailand a scenario that results in high market prices and low demand for
the products, thus the need to encourage domestic production of the products especially in urban
areas.

There is need for more research in this area because information helps to empower people for
decision making. This will in turn facilitate the adoption of renewable energy sources as well raw
materials for industrial use. It will therefore enhance the move towards sustainable production
and development.

This study will give basis to encourage interest in bamboo as a resource. It will also encourage
further research into this subject and open new opportunities for use of renewable resources.

1.6 Scope and limitations of the study

This study will focus on factors influencing the usage of bamboo as a raw material in industrial
production. Further, it will be limited to small and medium furniture enterprises within the
boundaries of Nairobi County with the main focus being at KEFRI and INBAR bamboo sections.
The lack of knowledge of both producers and consumers of bamboo products is expected to be a
major challenge when carrying out this study. It is also expected that there will be few dealers of
bamboo which limits the amount of data available for the study.

1.7 Definition of terms

Culms- Bamboo stems

Gregarious- The property of bamboo to grow in groups

IGAD- Intergovernmental Authority on Development.

INBAR – International Network for Bamboo and Rattan

KEFRI – Kenya Forest Research Institute

KFS – Kenya Forestry Services

Rattan - The thin bendable stems of a palm, used to make furniture.

Sequester - The process of withdrawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

1.8 Organization of the paper

This paper is organized into three chapters. Chapter one gives an introduction to the study
subject, states the objectives, states the problem and explains the rationale of this study.

Chapter two provides a literature review of the subject under study and also outlines the
conceptual framework whereby the dependent and independent variables are expilcitly covered.
It also gives the assumptions which guide the study.

Chapter three sets out the methodology to be followed for data collection and analysis in the
research. This is then followed by references and appendices.