Connecting the poor: Bamboo
(Problems and prospect)
When we look at ‘Bamboo’ also known as ‘Green Gold’ in the Asian culture, it is a
symbol of friendship in India; while bamboo's long life makes it a Chinese symbol of
longevity. Bamboo is used in Chinese medicine for treating infections and healing,
while in Ayurveda, the silicious concretion (bamboo manna) found in the culms of
the bamboo stem, is used as tonic for different diseases. Besides these the uses of
bamboo in our day-to-day life and the business the bamboo products can generate
is enormous and has tremendous prospective, more especially in the North-Eastern
Region (NER) of India. The estimated bamboo resources of the world are about 20
million hectares and the estimated current market of bamboo is US $ 10 billion that
is expected to increase to US $ 20 billion by 2015. In India, it encompasses about
8.96 million hectares of forest area which is equivalent to 12.8% of the total forest
cover consisting of 130 MT with estimated annual harvest being 13.47 MT. The
current market of bamboo/ bamboo products in India is estimated to be Rs. 4,500
crores which is expected to increase to Rs. 20,000 crores by 2015 with major
contribution from wood substitute, processed bamboo shoots, industrial products
(activated charcoal etc.) and Structural applications segments. The employment
potential of bamboo is very high and the major work force constitutes of the rural
poor, especially women and 432 million work days per annum are provided by the
bamboo sector in India Rapid increase in the demand of bamboos in the industrial
sector coupled with increase in domestic demand due to rising population have
caused depletion of the natural bamboo resources which calls for concerted efforts
for the awareness to raise bamboo plantations in land hitherto barren, degraded or
in association with agriculture crops. With the trend of decrease in production and
rise in human population, the gap between supply and demand is going to be larger
stressed that in India the demand for bamboo planting stocks are 90-120 million
per annum, which is expected to increase to up to 300 million seedlings per annum.
Large scale cultivation is the only way to prevent further depletion of bamboo
resource, and to ensure a regular and sustained supply of raw material for growing
industrial uses. This situation elucidates the need for increase in bamboo
production. Due attention on raising bamboo plantation under various programs has
not been paid so far. Now farmers and villagers need to be involved in bamboo
cultivation/ production. Apart from protecting natural vegetation of bamboos, the
activity has to be brought to the non forest lands.
However, there is a low awareness regarding the potential of bamboo and
associated products amongst users and even other stakeholders including the
government. The locals in the region use it for everyday uses, but they are not
aware of the economical, commercial and industrial applications of bamboo. The
database available with the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education
(ICFRE) reflects that 18 million hectares of world is covered by Bamboo. In India,
approximately 10 million hectares of area is covered by Bamboo out of which 28%
is in the NER. There are more than 125 species belonging to 23 genera of bamboos
found in India. Out of this, only 30 species are commercially important. They grow
naturally up to 3500 m above mean sea level. 66% of India’s bamboo resources
exist in NER and hence, the potentialities.
The requirement of “bamboo wood” for multiple uses by the industries and the
common man will definitely increase in far greater dimensions. In India, the total
demand of various bamboo consuming sectors is estimated at 26.9 million tonnes.
The estimated supply is only 13.47 million tonnes i.e. only half of the total demand.
The pulp and paper industry, construction, cottage industry and handloom, food,
fuel, fodder and medicine annually consume about 13.4 million tonnes of bamboo
amounting to Rs. 2042 crores. Demand of bamboo for industrial use is met from
state owned forests, while for non industrial purpose it comes from private as well
as state owned resources. Keeping abreast of versatility of bamboo uses and its
potential to build up the rural economy, Government of India launched massive
programme viz. National Bamboo Mission for over all development of bamboo
sector in the country and also to improve the Indian representation in global
bamboo market. Bamboo has also been recommended for plantations for a greener,
pollution free environment along with economic prosperity. Based on India’s rich
culture, bamboo utilization has triggered several programmes in the country for
economic and industrial development through the use of bamboo. Large targets for
plantations across the country have been fixed. The National Bamboo Mission
(India) envisages covering over 1.76 lakh hectare area through bamboo. This will
need over 70 million field plantable saplings to raise bamboo plantations. The
emphasis of the National Bamboo Mission is on an area based regionally
differentiated strategy, for both forest and non- forest areas. A number of activities
are proposed to be taken up for increasing production of bamboo through area
specific species/varieties with high yield, plantation development and dissemination
of technologies through a seamless blend of traditional wisdom and scientific
knowledge, along with the convergence and synergy amongst stakeholders. Besides
ensuring proper post-harvest storage and treatment facilities, marketing and export
National Bamboo Mission is committed to assure appropriate returns to
growers/producers. Also, bamboo development is viewed as an instrument of
poverty alleviation and employment generation for skilled and unskilled persons,
especially unemployed youth particularly in the rural sector through ecorehabilitation purposes
To support cause of the NBM for the development in the bamboo sector the
situational as well as practical and legal constraints need to be removed. At present
bamboo is classified as a ‘tree’ under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and therefore,
the various restrictions applicable to trees under the Act and its Rules apply to
bamboo. The Supreme Court in T.N.Godavarman Thirumulkpad vs. Union of India
(1977) ordered a complete ban on the felling of any trees. Further, the SC ordered
a complete ban on the movement of cut trees and timber from any of the seven
North-Eastern states to any other state of the country either by rail, road or
waterways. The cultivation, harvest and transport of bamboo are therefore
constrained by the said judgment read with the Indian Forest Act. Nagaland state,
however, has lifted restrictions on bamboo, but since the neighboring states have
not lifted restrictions it is difficult to transport the produce beyond the state of
Nagaland. While there is no restriction on the cultivation of bamboo on private
lands, but transporting bamboo across the state boundaries or even within a state
becomes problematic as forest and other officials at every check-point have to be
satisfied that the bamboo being transported has been from private lands and not
from forest lands. Therefore, the primary hindrance in respect of commercialization
of bamboo is transport permits.
China successfully has been the main driving force in the global bamboo industry’s
development over the last 15 years, with a global share of almost 80%. The total
world market for bamboo is worth USD 7 billion/year with handicrafts taking up just
over 40%. Oxfam Hong Kong predicts that the global market will continue to grow
to an estimated value of USD 15-20 Billion/year by 2017. India has opened its
boundaries to the market economy and is promoting itself as being on the
crossroads of trade between China and Southeast Asia. Although policy reforms are
continuing, doing business in India is still a challenge for the private sector. Many
have recognized the great potential of bamboo as an industry, be it for handicrafts,
shoots or industrial processing. Yet few countries have so far been able to develop
their bamboo industries beyond their traditional handicraft markets to exploit the
huge potential for rural economic growth and the resulting poverty reduction. While
bamboo handicrafts exist around the world, the industrial bamboo sub-sector is too
often notable only by its absence. Considerable challenges exist for those aspiring
to replicate the success of regions such as Anji, Li’nan and Fujian in China. Such
leading regions and their associated industries have set the benchmark in terms of
cost and efficiency of production, exploiting competitive advantages from the
development of dense industrial bamboo clusters. At the same time they have
seemingly lowered technical barriers to entry by commercializing much of the
technology and opening the markets to bamboo-based products. So why, with
available technologies, developing markets and local bamboo resources, has it
proved so difficult for others to replicate the success of China or Vietnam? Why
have industrial bamboos clusters not emerged more widely and achieved the same
large impacts on rural development and poverty reduction? The challenge for those
outside China (countries and regions as well as private enterprises) has been how
to make the transition from traditional, often small scale, processing industries to
the efficiencies and scale needed to compete in the world market against China.
China’s leading bamboo regions have achieved remarkable efficiencies in utilizing
every part of the bamboo that leaves the forest – with raw material conversion
rates often exceeding 95%, including branches and leaves as well as the main
culms themselves. With every part of the bamboo being used somewhere in the
industry, individual businesses are able to buy only the exact part of the bamboo
they require for their particular product and achieve low unit costs of production
despite some of the world’s highest farm-gate prices for raw bamboo. The efficiency
in material utilization has been made possible by the development of relatively
complex and geographically concentrated supply chains. The strong competition for
raw material among businesses means that every part of the bamboo is used for
the products of greatest added value and businesses constantly strive to find ways
to increase their efficiency and value addition to the bamboo. The Chinese industry
has also been relentless in its innovations in processing and machinery. These have
allowed it to achieve increasing labour productivity to off-set the rising cost of
workers. For those outside of China, the efficiencies of the Chinese industry have
made it very difficult to compete with in export markets. Emerging industries
elsewhere often struggle with raw material utilization rates for added value
products of perhaps 15%-25%. The dramatically higher efficiencies in China mean
that the sales prices of Chinese bamboo products are often lower than the cost of
production of similar products elsewhere where, despite big differences in the cost
of raw materials and labour.
The financial viability of bamboo related commercial projects is another
problem we need to look into. The financial institutions are wary of the facts
regarding operational difficulties, logistics and supply chain problem, track record of
stakeholders, lack of developed market for bamboo products and lack of work
ethics. In such a situation banks want increased participation of all stakeholders
and subsidy by the government. In such a situation development of suitable, small
but profitable industrial investment opportunities in the bamboo and cane sector
would be a necessary first step of the development of the sector, and thereby
employment to the disgruntled youth. There is no National Policy on Bamboo .A
National Policy or Policy on Bamboo for the NER will definitely boost the value
added products made from bamboo. In NE State the state of Nagaland
Government’s initiative to create the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency
(NBDA) has made exemplary model in the country for institutionalizing bamboo for
community. Also made its highest effort to make awareness of bamboo in the
country by hosting the First “World Bamboo Day” Celebration at Kisama, Nagaland
on 18th September 2010 which was graced by the Vice President of India H.E. Shri
Hamid Ansari which was attended by delegates from all India and more than 15
countries.
To commoditize bamboo there is a great need to carry out institutional
reform and restructuring. The examples of “Tea Board”, “Coffee Board”, “Coconut
Development Board”, “Spice Board”, “Jute Development Board”, “Silk Board”,
“Rubber Board”, “Coir Board” under various ministries of Government of India are
examples of commoditization. These bodies acts as “one stop shop” and looks after
all the requirements from development, promotional, plantation to processing and
marketing of the product including R&D activities and market promotion etc.
The bamboo sub-sector in North East is undeveloped due to a lacking enabling
environment to stimulate the private sector to invest in the states. Capacity of
government staff to tackle reforms and necessary insights to promote and develop
marketable products is limited. Consequently private sector and poor communities
have few incentives to sustainable manage and gain from trading bamboo
resources. Key intervention areas to support the development of the bamboo value
chain are the enabling business climate, handicraft sector and piloting business
models aiming at providing benefits for both the private sector and communities.
Lessons from China, Vietnam and other South Asian Countries are needed to be
learnt for India. India’ Aggarbatti Industry (Incense Sticks) which is pegged at
Rs.4000 crore market imports bulk of the required bamboo sticks from China and
Vietnam whereas abundant bamboo resources in NE States are burnt by Jhumming
or pulped for paper by the two giant Paper Mills in the region leaving less scope for
the farmers for value addition and benefits. Bamboo is useful for ecological and
environmental purposes as well. It is one of the best species for carbon
sequestration; it conserves soil and water besides many other protective purposes
Since, market for environment-friendly “green” products is growing, India must try
to secure her due share in world bamboo market which is expected to grow from
USD 10 billion to over USD 20 billion by 2015, if we could expand the bamboo
economy steadily to Rs. 26,000 Crore by 2015 from Rs. 2000 Crore, as envisioned
by the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMPTC), Govt. of
India. To achieve this target the social and commercial aspects of bamboo and
bamboo products need to be disseminated at the grass root level. Simultaneously,
a programme of awareness building is needed to influence the government
(commerce, industry and various ministries), bankers, potential traders and
investors on the potential of bamboo – economic, social and environmental.
However, this awareness has to be built regarding benefits they can relate to – the
value proposition, people and environmental friendliness of bamboo and connecting
the poor.
(The above are the views of the author)
By:
Mr.Kamesh Salam
Founder and Executive Director,
South Asia Bamboo Foundation (SABF).
Former President
World Bamboo Organization (WBO).
E mail- southasiabamboo@gmail.com