25 January 2013: The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) published a report outlining the potential role of bamboo in reducing poverty in the Guangxi province of southwestern China. The report highlights the strong global market for bamboo but cautions that management and trade issues need to be addressed, if the full potential of bamboo as a livelihood option is to be realized.

The report highlights the many benefits of bamboo compared to other timber products, such as the ease with which it can be grown on steep slopes, the limited restrictions and regulations on the bamboo market, the annual harvesting cycle, the ease with which it can be transported and the few technical requirements for growth, harvesting and valued added.

The report does note that even though 20 per cent of the world’s bamboo comes from China, which has invested in a number of bamboo-related development projects, within the study area, there is still limited knowledge of advanced growth and harvesting techniques. Furthermore, few studies have been conducted to quantify the economic contribution of bamboo to household incomes.

As such, the report concludes that further investments are needed in research and extension in order to better understand the current and potential role of bamboo in sustainable rural development and to maximize the contribution of bamboo to poverty alleviation. [Press Release: Potential of bamboo to alleviate poverty in rural China remains untapped] [Publication: The Contribution of Bamboo to Household Income and Rural Livelihoods in a Poor and Mountainous County in Guangxi, China]