Value Chain Study of Bamboo in Dhankuta District

Value Chain Study of Bamboo in Dhankuta District

2013

Abhinaya Pathak

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Multistakeholder Forestry Programme (MSFP) seeks to improve livelihoods and resilience of Nepal’s poor and disadvantaged people through development of the forestry sector’s contribution to “inclusive economic growth, poverty reduction, and tackling climate change.” Based on lessons learned from programs conducted over the past 20 years – including the Livelihood and Forestry Programme (LFP) and Nepal Swiss Community Forestry Programme (NSCFP) – MSFP, together with NGO partners Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN) and Forest Action Nepal (FA), identified the need for a value chain (VC) approach towards selected market-driven enterprises as a means to address weaknesses currently seen in forest-based enterprises and promote public-private partnerships.

This report details a value chain study of Bamboo. This VC study focuses specifically on the context of the Dhankuta District in eastern Nepal. In accordance with the MSFP’s goals of “inclusive economic growth, poverty reduction and tackling climate change,” this analysis uses the value chain approach to identify and focus specifically on those parts of the value chain where the greatest potential for economic and social value-addition for rural poor communities lies. The report explores the experiences of Bamboo cultivation, harvesting, processing, and its market and identifies constraints and opportunities in the current systems of Bamboo enterprise management and to make recommendations on how further expansion into the enterprise can be best undertaken.

INTRODUCTION

Bamboos are one of the most widely used products. Its products are already in everyday use by about 2.5 billion people in the world (Scurlock et al., 2000). It has over 1500 uses and has tremendous versatility (Rai and Chauhan, 1998). In Nepal, they are one of the most common plant species grown on farmland. People perceive this species as an alternate to tree for fulfilling their demand of forest products (Das and Oli, 2001). With its varied uses such as construction materials, woven products, agricultural implements, fodder, vegetables and scaffolding and in stabilizing slip-prone slopes, bamboos are in great demand by the rural households in Nepal. Occurrence of bamboo is more common in the eastern half of the country from Dhaulagiri to Sikkim Boarder, as high as 4000 m (Stapleton, 1994). There

are over 75 genera and 1250 species of the bamboos in the world (FAO, 1978) and 80% of this resource is found in South and South East Asia and China (Sharma, 1988). In Nepal, 12 genera and more than 50 species of bamboo have been recorded so far (TIS, 2004). Out of the 75 districts of Nepal, 73 are known to have one or more species of bamboo. It has been estimated that the total growing stock of bamboo in Nepal is around 15 million cubic meters with an approximate biomass value of 1060 million tons (Karki and Karki, 1995).

Habit

Bamboo is the fastest growing perennial evergreen arbores cent plant belonging to the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae. Bamboo is commonly known as “poor man’s timber” since it is used by the rural population. Because of its global demand and diverse uses bamboo is now known as “green gold” of the

forest. Their adaptability to grow in a wide range of climate and regions make them the principal and the most productive members of the grass family. Bamboo can thrive in hot, humid, rainforests and also cold hardy forest having temperature of about -20°C. It can tolerate extreme precipitation ranging from 32-50 inches annual rainfall. Bamboo’s unique rhizome structure is responsible for its accelerated growth rate. Comprising of over 1,500 species included in 87 genera

worldwide, bamboos are unevenly distributed in different parts of the humid tropical, sub-tropical and temperate regions.

Habitat and Distribution

Bamboos are endemic to all the three major ecological zones of Nepal: Tarai, Mid-hills and Mountains. However, they are more concentrated and show larger diversity in the eastern half of the country, from the Annapurna to the Kanchenjunga ranges of the ‘Himalayan Mountains. Species abundance is directly related to the amount and distribution of rainfall, with areas that receive well distributed and greater rainfall, such as Pokhara and Illam regions, having the largest number of bamboo species. Nepal has both tropical bamboos found in South-East Asia and temperate bamboos found in Tibet and Bhutan.

Bamboo in Nepal

Bamboo is known as Bans in Nepali language. It plays an important role in the Nepalese economy. Bamboos are used in daily household activities in the rural as well as urban areas from ti me immemorial. Baskets, mats and sieves are the most widely used products in Nepal. Bamboo-based economic activities are an intrinsic part of both the rural as well as the urban socioeconomic life of Nepal. The rural economy is highly dependent on bamboo resources (Karki and Karki, 1996). Marketing of bamboo and its products is important source of income for household. For many people who are socially and economically under-privileged, the income from the sale of the bamboo craft s that they make has remained as the main source of income for their livelihood. In Nepal, bamboo craft -makers living in the rural areas are the major producers of bamboo products. Ethnic groups such as Dom, Bin, Rajbanshi, Chepang and Rai are the major occupational castes involved in bamboo craftsmanship. The woven products such as basket and sieve are major bamboo products produced by them which are used in the rural and urban areas of the country. (MDBRPP/DFRS. 2010)

Natural bamboo resources in Nepal have considerably dwindled during the last

three decades. This is primarily owing to the large-scale destruction of the habitat

of bamboos resulting from encroachment and release of forest land for agriculture,

shifting cultivation, negligence in the management of natural bamboo stands, and

the lack of an appropriate policy governing the resources. (Karki, et al.,1998)

Bamboo is widely cultivated in both rural and urban areas of the country because

of its vigorous regeneration, fast growth, high productivity, quick maturity, short

rotation and desired form. Bamboo cultivation in rural areas is generally restricted to the banks of watercourses, marginal and leftover land, low-productivity land, homesteads, and back and front yards of houses on the hills. However, the situation is quite different in the eastern districts where the farmers consider bamboo to be as important as other agricultural crops and grow it in their rice fields. Although the use pattern is overwhelmingly based on traditional practices, more and more new uses are being popularized with the expanding and more easily accessible infrastructure, information and technology.

Economic Significance of Bamboo

The bamboo plant supports an international trade which (even according to our currently imperfect trade statistics) is worth more than US$ 2 billion per year. Yet international trade represents only a small proportion of total bamboo usage – domestic use is estimated to account for at least 80 per cent. Bamboo is thus a major world commodity (striakova, N., Kapos, V., Stapleton, C. & Lysenko, I.

2003. Bamboo Biodiversity. UNEP-WCMC/INBAR).

Bamboo’s prominent role in the traditional life of Nepal is well acknowledged. (Poudyal 2006, Bista 2004, Das 2001, Karki et. at 1998, Storey 1990) From the “untouchable” Dalits castes to the “high caste” Brahmins: bamboo is used in all aspects of life. (Bista, 2004 Das 2006) Eighty one species (5.2% of the world species) belonging to 23 genera (24% of the world genera) are found in Nepal.

Bamboo market in Nepal is estimated at around NPR 1 Billion where 25,000 plus families from excluded/ethnic groups are involved in bamboo related livelihood activities in Eastern Nepal alone. Additionally, 3.3 million farming families are somehow involved with the bamboo sub sector either as producers or users of bamboo based products. Bamboo has various advantages such as it has potential to create rural employment; it is environmentally friendly, cheap and abundant. Global bamboo economy is also estimated to be 14 billion dollars. With rich variety of bamboo species (from the tropical species of South-east asia to the temperate species of Tibet) bamboo sector in Nepal can play a very prominent role in eradicating poverty.

Uses

Bamboo plays a vital role in rural socio-economic life for its variety of uses: material for house construction, fencing and enclose for cattle, agricultural implements, and for making handicrafts and furniture for income generation. In many places, bamboo is used for the protection of farmlands from landslides, and

soil and riverbank erosions. Young shoots of bamboo are used as a seasonal vegetable by many people, in both rural and urban areas. However, following are the major uses and are thus described under broad headings:

Construction

Bamboo, like truewood, is a naturalcomposite materialwith high strength-to-weight ratio useful for structures. Bamboo intended for use in construction should be treated to resist insects and rot. The most common solution for this purpose is a mixture ofboraxandboric acid. In its natural form, bamboo as a construction material is traditionally associated with the cultures of South Asia, East Asia and the South Pacific, to some extent in Central and South America. Bamboo are used to hold upsimple suspension bridges, either by making cables of split bamboo or twisting whole culms of sufficiently pliable bamboo together.

Bamboo has also long been used as scaffolding all over the world. InJapanese architecture, bamboo is used primarily as a supplemental and/or decorative element in buildings such as fencing, fountains, grates and gutters, largely due to the ready abundance of quality timber. In the eastern Tarai, bamboos are traditionally used to construct almost all parts of a house except the fireplace. Bamboo houses are widely prevalent in the rural areas of eastern Nepal (Karki, et al., 1998). Beams, trusses, frames, walls, partitions, ceilings, doors, windows and floors are made from round or split culms. Long culms are laced together for erecting construction scaffoldings in urban areas.

General construction

Bamboos are commonly used also for a great number of general construction purposes. Round or split culms of suitable size and quality are employed to produce a range of products such as: ladders, musical instruments, sport implements, bows and arrows, fishing rods, tool handles, frames of fishing nets, fishing traps, boating poles, bullock cart railings, mats and sheets, etc.

Agricultural implements

Many articles are made out of bamboo for on-farm and off-farm agricultural uses.

Some common ones are: water pipes, hoe handles, aeration mats, sieves, screens,

fans, carrying rods, racks, carry baskets (tbuncb and doko), ropes (namlo), trays

(nanglo), barns, granaries, cylindrical baskets (dalo), and grain containers (bhakaris), bins and other types of containers.

Arts and handicrafts

Many art objects and items for household use are made from bamboo culms, splits

and strips. These include flower pots, model furniture, lamp stands, lamp shades,

sun shades, picture frames, mats, blinds, mat ceilings, hand fans, dusters, brushes, walking sticks, cudgels, fruit containers, book and shoe shelves, baskets, ladies’

bags, wastepaper baskets, combs, hats, blow pipes, TV antenna posts, flag-poles and pencil holders.

Shelters

Shelters made of bamboo are common in the eastern districts. They are erected

for cattle, agricultural and cultural fairs, market stalls and bus stops.

Food

Bamboo is not recommended for its nutritional value. Still, the tender shoots of bamboo have long been used in Southeast Asian cooking. They can be sliced, canned, or pickled, among other preparation methods, and are generally used as an added ingredient in many dishes. Pulverized bamboo skin includes antioxidants that make it useful as a natural food preservative (EBF 2010).

Soil erosion control

Round or split bamboo culms are used for protecting hill sides and riverbanks.

Every year, large quantities of bamboo culms are used for the protection of the

Koshi River banks. The dam maintenance project buys bamboo culms from the

farmers. Farmers employ bamboo culms for making check dams and spurs to protect their farmlands from torrential rains and soil erosion. (Karki, et al., 1998)

Environment friendly

The energy required to produce bamboo is about half of that necessary for wood, one eighth the energy necessary for using concrete in the same capacity, and only one fiftieth of that needed for steel. Bamboo absorbs four times as much carbon dioxide from the environment as trees do (McCoy 2009). Bamboo can produce more housing while using less land than timber. Only 70 hectares of a bamboo plantation can provide enough material to build 1000 houses per hear. In contrast, it would require the destruction of 600 hectares of natural forest for the same result (INBAR 2010).

Bamboo Trade

Bamboos are the fastest-growing plants in the world due to a unique rhizome-dependent system. Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product. It has been shown that the uses and extraction of NTFPs in general, are pronounced among impoverished class and declines as the household income increases. Gunatilake, Senaratne and Abeygunawardena (1993) quoted in Daniggelis 1997) More so can be said of bamboo, as the influx of modern plastic and construction material are displacing bamboo from its historical uses. But as the modern market study shows, a new market is emerging in urban areas for handmade utilitarian and decorative objects. In housing sector, an interest is growing for low cost annexes, restaurants, weekend homes and even residential homes. In this burgeoning market, a transition for of traditional bamboo craftspeople to the modern bamboo sector can be relatively easy (and necessary), provided adequate organization, marketing skills, additional knowledgebase and proper policies are provided.

It has been widely reported that the demand and supply of the bamboo products such as stool, rack, and road sweeping broom has increased significantly over the years, especially in the urban areas. As reported by the traders of bamboo, the increasing demand of bamboo has motivated the suppliers to go to the interior parts of the districts, even to the remote rural areas to collect the bamboo culms.. Regarding bamboo supply in Kathmandu Valley, it is estimated that 50 to 60 MT of bamboo are supplied daily to the valley from different bamboo supplying areas. The urban-based manufacturers, who constitute a small number, reported that the supply of bamboo as raw-material have met their demand. (MDBRPP/DFRS. 2010).Furthermore, the interest in modern market does not require intensive technology, but it needs more design skills and new craftsmanship and institutional support. On the contrary in Nepal, the high technology intensive bamboo endeavors like plywood and parqueting industry suffered a setback, because it is unable to compete with cheap Chinese and Indian plywood and parquets and the price of bamboo lamination is more than wood products. Keeping historical uses of bamboo in mind, Nepal can make a swifter and more effective transition to crafts based bamboo industries than a technology based. (Adhikari, N. 2013)