ABUJA, Sept 19 (The African Portal) – The National Bamboo Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NBFPMAN) says Nigeria can earn 22 billion dollars annually from bamboo value chain development.
The association’s National president, Mr Ukeme Nyah, said this at the commemoration of the World Bamboo Day on Thursday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Bamboo Day is commemorated annually on Sept. 18 and the theme for 2025 event is: “Next Generation Bamboo: Solution, Innovation and Design’’.
He said that the figure was an outcome of researches conducted by experts within and globally.
Nyah explained that through propagation, planting to harvesting and utilisation, the development of bamboo value chain could create thousands of jobs and income-earning opportunities.
“It will also diversify the economy, conserve foreign exchange, reduce import-dependence, promote environmental sustainability and mitigate climate change.
“A well-articulated and faithfully implemented national bamboo value chain development programme could rapidly transform the economic landscape of the country,’’ he said.
He identified bamboo as a unique and invaluable asset for addressing various global challenges from climate change to poverty reduction.
According to him, bamboo is one of the most versatile and sustainable resources on the planet.
“It provides eco-friendly construction materials to combat climate change and also help to restore degraded lands and supports local economies.
“From a poor man’s timber, bamboo is fast emerging as green gold,’’ Nyah revealed.
The president, however, said that the new markets had opened more opportunities to promote Bamboo as an alternative to plastic and other impact materials, an elegant partnership to the wood industry.
“Bamboo emerged as a wood substitute and input material in the industrial production of vast uses like in furniture, building materials, pulp and paper, fabrics, and toothpicks.
“Bamboo stands out as a remarkable resource, boasting an incredible of over 10,000 documented uses,” he said.
He also called for the implementation of national bamboo value chain development programme to transform the economic landscape of the country.
“Nigeria should vigorously explore the possibilities offered by modern bamboo utilisation as experienced by many countries across the world,” he said.
Credit: NAN
