By Peter Marimi
Talk of bamboo, is there anything to write home about it? Yes, there is plenty because it has numerous advantages. Growing at 90cm in 24 hours bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world. Unlike trees that take long to mature, at 3 to 5 years one can start to harvest bamboo. As it grows bamboo sends its roots far and wide especially with the running variety thereby holding the soil together and preventing soil erosion and degradation. Its evergreen leaves produce 35% more oxygen than trees while taking in more carbon dioxide. Here you have a good tool to fight climate change with as it has the ability to reduce pollution, production of greenhouse gases and therefore global warming. It also has the ability to purify the soil as it can remove many noxious compounds and metals from the earth.
Bamboo is not very selective in terms of the type of soil it requires making it suitable for growing on over utilised and not so fertile soils. Although regarded as more suitable to tropical and subtropical regions, bamboo can easily be cultivated 70% of the earth. After planting it does not need a lot of care as it is not easily attacked by pests and may not need to be irrigated. Once planted bamboo rarely needs replanting as it quickly self-propagates. Actually, the more you cut it the more it grows. From one plant you can harvest up to 200 culms and this for a period of more than 100 years while a tree will always give you one single tree at any given time. In terms of usage bamboo has over 1,000 documented uses making it one of the most useful plants around. It can successfully be used as a substitute to wood thereby providing a solution to deforestation. Bamboo provides habitat and food for animals, birds and insects contributing more than 99% to the giant panda’s diet.
Bamboo is light in weight making it easy to harvest and transport without the need for specialized equipment and vehicles. Processing does not require highly skilled labour and it easily splits making it easy to handle for women and young people.
