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Click to view April 2004
Bamboo Industrial Development Project
(An investment opportunity)
Click to view June 2003
A Giant Step Forward - June 2003

Bamboo Industrial Development Project (An investment opportunity)

1.0 Subject  
The Industrial development of bamboo linking the developing and developed economies to provide long term poverty alleviation, food security, jobs and a high grade technical product produced for international markets to international quality standards.  

To explore this project further contact BHI.  


2.0 General overview
There are approximately1300 different species of bamboo capable of growing in a variety of soil conditions and locations throughout the world. Bamboo is a resource most noted and understood in China, the Far East and Asia, where for centuries it has been used as a basic construction material together with other multiple domestic uses such as traditional medicines, food, clothes, fuel, utensils furniture and crafts. China continues to be the major producer and user of bamboo for the manufacture of building products such as doors, floorings mouldings and panels.  Some of these products have been exported to the industrialised economies, but domestic demand in China and the Far East is high and the resource is under pressure, consequently the export markets remains underdeveloped.  

Major Institutions, governments and donors countries are now actively developing the world resource and potential of bamboo through a series of keyhole projects, most of which are focused on rural development and poverty alleviation in the poorer countries.  


3.0 The Product  
This proposal centres on a European factory being established for the processing and manufacture of ‘high quality’ and technically advanced bamboo board.  The end product will have the inherent and technical integrity to compete effectively with traditionally building materials such as solid wood, Medium Density Fibreboard MDF, plywood and particleboard.  

3.1 Business sector  
The project (factory) will operate as a timber processing and manufacturing business within the European timber Industry. (Agro/forestry industries).  

Bamboo board can be manufactured and processed to any commercial section and any thickness from 6mm to 150mm.  Bamboo board is rot proof treated, stronger and more stable and versatile than its competitive products. It can be used for both internal and external applications and can be worked in a similar way as solid wood with equivalent tools and machinery.  It can even be moulded and shaped to corrugated sheeting pattern.  

The selected resource countries for this project lie within the sub Sahara African bamboo belt. Each has varying levels of natural bamboo stands. However there is a requirement to develop bamboo plantations to ensure long term resource security.  

The natural stands and plantations of bamboo can be harvested as a cash crop by rural communities. The communities can be trained to manage and harvest the plantations and existing natural stands. The bamboo can be harvested to produce the raw material required for board production and as a material for domestic use.  

The bamboo harvested for board production will be selected, graded and prepared for export. The bamboo harvested for domestic use will be used to produce local food (bamboo shoots) and fuel (Charcoal), together with utility furniture, utensils, building construction and craft items. The activity will provide jobs (in Europe and Africa), and help alleviate poverty and reduce the demand on the natural forest.  

Most of the African countries with a natural bamboo resource do not utilise its potential. Some receive international food aid to stave off famine and most rely on the natural forest for fuel wood (up to 80% of the fuel requirement relies on charcoal), All the African countries have reducing forest resources, severe land degradation and increasing demographic pressures frustrated by unemployment levels of 40% +. The development of the bamboo resources together with a ‘demand pull’ for raw material from the developed economies will be a significant tool in resolving these issues.   


4.0 The Raw Material  
The bamboo as a raw material for industry will be produced in the source countries located in the bamboo belt of Africa. The raw material will be produced to semi finished raw material; treated, dried and supplied as bamboo strips and/or woven matting. The bamboo will be shipped to the European manufacturing plant/s where it will be made into board product to EU/ international quality standards. The finished product will then be sold directly into industry to produce the following products.  

  • Furniture components.

  • Mouldings.

  • Joinery products – Doors, windows, worktops, kitchen cabinets, floorings

  • Structural components. Claddings

  • Laminated beams.  


5.0 Project ( Existing stage of development)   
Part one  
The development of the resource and training of the rural communities in the developing economies is due to be undertaken by institutions and governments during 2004/5. This stage of the project will proceed regardless of the second part. Part two of the project will develop linkages with part one and will work closely with the institutions and governments with the objective of establishing the systems and technical expertise necessary for the supply of bamboo raw material to the European manufacturing plants. 

Part two
The European manufacturing and marketing system (business and operational plan) is still at concept stage. The factory set up, machinery technical inputs and marketing have already been quantified and the appropriate personal capable of initiating and bringing the operation from ‘start up’ to production and profitability have been designated.   

The governments of the African countries involved have already pledged land for the development of plantations. The appropriate forest research departments will undertake nursery propagation for bamboo plants to ensure sufficient are available for plantation development. Grant aid and commercial income will be available for the forestry departments to undertake this work in both the short and long term.     

All governments involved operate a policy of ‘community forest development’ these communities have already been identified, where training would be provided, plantations managed and the raw material produced for export. In addition the bamboo plantations will provide each community with the following benefits.  

  • Skills and employment.

  • Regenerate degraded land.

  • New habitat for environmental and eco system development 

  • A secure food resource ( bamboo shoots) which is high in iron and protein and can also be sold in local markets to generate income.

  • Provide a fuel resource (Charcoal). Currently charcoal provides 60-80% of the fuel requirement for the countries involved and is a significant cause of deforestation.

  • Provide the raw material for craft work to generate income from tourism.

  • Provide the main resource for the export of raw material for processing.

  • Reduce the pressure on the natural forest and ecosystems.  

Bamboo is ready to harvest for food within 2 years and as a raw material for industry within 4 years.  A bamboo plantation has a harvesting life of 40 years or more and properly managed will increase its yield by up to 7 times. Currently it is estimated there is sufficient natural stands of bamboo in the ‘African bamboo belt’ countries to provide enough raw material to sustain several European manufacturing plants producing 100 tonnes + per day of high quality bamboo board.


6.0 Our involvement (Who we are).  
The website summarises the expertise and activities of BHI who are also experienced in business ‘start ups’ and business ‘turnarounds’. Our involvement in this project is as contracted consultants/specialists only. Our objective is to ensure the business concept outlined in this paper works exactly and according to plan. We do not seek to have shares in the business as this would compromise our impartiality and independence. BHI will provide the team of international experts in the following disciplines.  

  • Factory set up and production expert.

  • Plant and machinery operation expert.

  • Manufacturing and processing expert.

  • Bamboo Plantation, species and raw material preparation expert.

  • Product and market development expert.

  • International project coordinator and manager

  • Finance, admin, budgetary control.  

The owners/backers of the project/company would provide.

  • Investment and working capital.

  • Board of management

  • Middle management.

  • Admin and support Staff.

  • Labour force.  

This project is planned to start during the first part of 2005.  It is estimated the project will begin to yield profits within 2 years with the factory/s being profitable within 6 months of operation.  


7.0 Why bamboo?  
There is nothing new in bamboo.  It is a grass and it has been used as a wood substitute for thousand of years. This project seeks to develop bamboo on the back of existing skills technology and develop it into a high tech product with strong market demand. There is synergy between this project the environment, poverty alleviation in developing economies and job creation in Europe. It is a universal wealth creator and poverty alleviator.


8.0 The potential for the venture.  
The potential for the venture as a profit-orientated business is excellent.  For a relatively small overall investment the returns and social/economic benefits cannot easily be ignored.    

8.1 Advantages
From source:  

  • Degraded land brought back into use.

  • Bamboo forest plantations created.

  • Improved livelihoods and reduced poverty for some of the poorest people in the world in four countries or more.

  • Improved Job, food and fuel security

  • Direct reduction of deforestation to natural forests.

  • Joint development of the resource and skills with UNIDO and INBAR.

  • Improved environment and related ecosystems.

  • Reduction in illegal logging through reduced demand for timber.

  • The project will source supplies from four countries, this offers security in the continuity of the raw material and ensures prices stability.  

Advantages for European manufacture:

  • Job creation.

  • Product, skills and technological development.

  • Market opportunities. Europe. International.

  • Opportunities to develop further manufacturing plants in Europe and North America.

  • Profitability through market growth/demand.  

8.2 Risks Assessment

In any project or business venture there is an element of risk. The discipline used in the formulation of this project is based on a ‘continuous risk assessment’.  Those risks identified to date are categorised as follows. The success of the project relies on the following factors:

  • Regular supplies of acceptable raw material,

  • Price competitiveness and price stability.

  • Regular shipments.

  • Manufacture of final product to recognised EU quality standards.

  • Large market opportunities.

  • Opportunities for product development and market access.

  • Production at a competitive price

  • Experienced and efficient management.

  • Profitability.  

The risks of the project have been identified as:  

  • Irregular supplies of raw material.

  • Unstable and rising prices.

  • Irregular shipments.

  • Lack of market development.

  • Competition.

  • Inexperienced management.  


9.0 Project Implementation
The project will be implement according to the schedule and business plan already prepared by BHI.   

 9.1 Stage 1
In conjunction with the international institutions the project will supply expertise in training and technology transfer to four African countries to a level which will enable raw material to be produced to a satisfactory standard and to a stable price formula for the European manufacturing and production plant/s.  

Logistics will be established to ensure regular shipments to European destinations.  
9.2 Stage 2
A European ‘pilot’ plant will be set up to produce test product conforming to and achieving EU/international standards and accreditation. Management, admin staff and work force employed and trained. Markets will be sensitised and advanced orders obtain for production.   

9.3 Stage 3
The pilot plant commissioned to produce min 20 tonnes + per day.  

9.4 The competition
Refer to business plan.  


10.0 Next Steps
There is little doubt that bamboo board will emerge as a major industrial product and an accepted alternative to timber and associated products.  

This Project will start during the first part of 2005.  

Bamboo board product will be commercially produced in Europe during 2006.  

There is an overriding requirement for private industry to take ownership of this project. Investor/s are invited to contact the initiators BHI. We have the ‘know how’ to help create a new industry.


11.0 Conclusion
Most international forest initiatives have been implemented successfully, this is often due to the overriding commitment and expertise of the donors, technician and managers; but when these initiatives are viewed as a whole they have comprehensively failed to produce the results required. We still have deforestation, soil erosion, land degradation, deteriorating ecosystems, poverty, all increasing at an increasing rate.  Recipient governments and the associated commercial sector have been left with ‘so called’ successful initiatives; but often they do not have the resource, knowledge, skills or incentive to continue the success. 

The result is the initiative fails. This is often a hard fact for people to admit, particularly after millions of dollars have been spent. The simple fact is that traditional forest polices and strategies have been applied in the short term and failed in the medium to long term. Tropical forests and dependent ecosystems continue to shrink at an alarming rate. 

The time has come for an alternative solution. We, like our international colleagues, believe the solution is bamboo, and unlike timber it can be harvested within four years of planting, it has a harvesting life of 40 years or more and in all respects can be utilised as a timber substitute. The key to success is to put in place manufacturing capacity and the market demand ‘pull’ for the product.

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A Giant Step Forward
June 2003

By Peter Haddock
EU/WSDP - Project Coordinator, 2001- Jan 2003

The Woodworking Sector Development Programme WSDP, an EU/Government of Ghana funded project was initiated in1999. Since then the timber industry of Ghana has absorbed series of initiatives and interventions designed to improved the overall effectiveness and efficiency of operating companies at all levels in the sector, namely Large Scale Enterprises (LSE’s), Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) and Micro Enterprises (ME’s). 

The WSDP was designed in the early 1990’s based on the outcomes of a wood sector projected funded by the EU technical assistance to the woodworking Sector. Preparatory work mainly consisted of sector studies e.g. Forest Industries Restructuring Study, General Woods and Veneers, 1997 The project was approved in July 1997 and the WSDP finally commenced in January 1999.

The Project delivered integrated industrial development components to the industry under three main subsections namely:

  • Technical assistance

  • Financial support in the form of grants for the export of Lesser Used Species (LUS)

  • Export Incentive Scheme (EIS)

  • Financial assistance for the purchase of selected Equipment  KVG/SPS

  • Training Grants

Technical Assistance (TA)
TA delivered by the project was principally concerned with the project’s objective of adding value in the supply chain and thus increasing the economic impact of the participating firms in the sector. Various trainings and TA interventions were carried out in the fields of business planning, skills training, machinery rehabilitation, machine maintenance, kiln drying, marketing, production planning, and wood machining. TA was delivered in two phases of the project. The first phase concentrated mainly on the Large Scale Enterprises. The second phase focused on SME’s, ME’s, Institutions and associations.

Export Incentive Scheme (EIS)

  • Financial Assistance for the purchase of selected equipment

  • Kiln and value added grant (KVG) and Small Producers Scheme (SPS)

The scheme was implemented to assist those companies to develop added value products. The assistance ranged from kiln drying and machinery equipment including flooring and moulding lines and stand alone machinery to the LSE’s through to the supply of hand tools to Micro enterprises.  


Institutions and Associations
The institutions and associations were undoubtedly the most important area to be addressed by the WSDP interventions. The issue of training at all levels throughout the woodworking sector remains paramount to the successful development of the industry. The interventions consisted of ‘training of trainers’ and lectures for students. This was further supported by the supply of  ‘state of the art’ computer equipment, software and textbooks. Senior management seminars and workshops were also delivered and well received by the participants.

One of the main strengths of WSDP and its perceived success has been its ability to be flexible and thus respond quickly to the needs of industry whilst simultaneously pursing its main objective of raising the growth rate of the Ghanaian economy by stabilising and increasing in a sustainable way its export revenue, through the support to the growth of non-traditional exports in the woodworking sector. The WSDP supported and accelerated the re structuring of the woodworking sector by helping to increase tertiary value added activities and broaden the resource base of the sector whilst at the same time ensuring compatibility with the principles of sustainable development. To that end WSDP developed and implemented three additional sub projects.

  • The development of Bamboo as an alternative LUS

  • The application of Solar Kilns

  • Forest Certification

Bamboo – Green Gold
The diminishing wood resource of Ghana and the restrictions imposed on felling in natural forests have focused attention on the need to identify a substitute material, which should be renewable, environmentally friendly and widely available. Bamboo satisfies these criteria and emerges as a very suitable alternative. The WSDP built on the UNIDO, Bamtech initiative, which was introduced in 2001. 

Bamboo is one of the oldest and most versatile of construction materials with many applications in the field of building, furniture and other domestic items, this is particularly true in the developing countries. The material is strong and lightweight and can often be used without processing or finishing. In spite of these clear advantages, the use of bamboo has been largely restricted in Ghana to temporary structures due to the limited natural durability and the inherent difficulties in jointing and design.

For the most part the bamboo species (mainly Bambusa vulgaris) in Ghana grows in the wild and is used in low level construction i.e. low cost dwellings, fencing and some furniture items. As a processed product bamboo has the potential to be converted into solid ‘woodlike’ material, which can be cut, planed and veneered as if it were solid wood. This enables the product to be effectively used within the furniture and component industries thus relieving the pressure on the forest and creating new employment opportunities. However from recent studies it is clear the potential of this material is under utilised in Ghana and if correctly used could contribute appreciably to reducing the pressure on the existing forest resource as well as providing significant rural employment to local towns and villages. 

The Pioneer Bamboo Company of Assin Foso together with the expertise and Technical Assistance provided by WSDP developed facilities to produce bamboo board products.  When fully completed the products of the factory would be destined to provide components to the building and furniture industry. 

Already the company has completed the first of a three-phase development programme and has also produced the first factory made laminated solid bamboo board. 

The continued development of the factory could eventually lead to the production of high quality bamboo board for the local and international market. 
Solid bamboo laminated board (table top).

The project sought to encompass the bamboo activity in Assin Foso (Population 22,000), so as to create multi level job and employment possibilities for the local village population. This would include harvesting and grading, for the rural population, skills training in the local (NVTI) centre and advanced skills training for the local craft and furniture manufactures. The Pioneer Bamboo factory would provide additional employment and skills training for machine operators and management. The resultant integrated industrial processing in the area would lead directly to poverty alleviation through commercial and industrial activity in the area where already 45% of the population is unemployed and without any work skills or career opportunities. Such development would also create the need for other species of bamboo, which ideally could be cultivated from new plantation thus further increasing job opportunities particularly for the poorer farming communities.

The WSDP development of bamboo in Assin Foso did not stop at The Pioneer Bamboo Company. Over 20 local furniture manufacturers and artisans including the local National Vocational Training Centre (NVTI) responded to the growing interest in bamboo products and participated in a training programme. 

WSDP consultants trained local employees to use solid bamboo in making furniture items such as chairs, sofas, tables, and bookcases.  

They also provided technical assistance and designs to companies throughout the furniture manufacturing industry in an effort to sensitise awareness to the potential of bamboo. 
A Stand of Bambusa vulgaris in
Ghana’s Western Region

Solar Kilns
Kiln drying of timber is still a relatively new concept to the overall woodworking industry of Ghana. Many of the LSE’s who export have state of the art kilning facilities, but lacked the operator skills to ensure the process worked efficiently both for the company and the client. WSDP provided specialist technical assistance and training to many of these companies to ensure operator skills levels were appropriate to produce the required efficiencies and ensure maintenance of the equipment. 

The WSDP Solar Kiln sub project was created and implemented to meet the needs of the SME’s and ME’s, which were mainly furniture and craft manufacturers. These manufacturers whilst appreciating the need to dry timber relied almost solely on Air Dried wood for processing. The introduction of Solar Kiln technology to these companies and institutions opened up the route to understanding the technology of kiln drying and also the ability to produce better quality products for the local and export markets.

The sub-project, the largest of its kind in West Africa, designed 3 types of modular solar kilns 10m3, 5m3 and 3m3. based on a recognised and proven drying system. The plans, materials and site management were provided by WSDP. The client provided the land and labour. In all 15 solar kilns were built in Ghana for companies, institutions and associations located in the three major cities of Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.  

Today SME’s and craft producers ME’s have the ability to make high quality furniture and components using kiln dried wood. Training institutes and associations can train students in the skills and technology of Kiln drying wood.  
Solar Kiln for Craft Producers

Forest Certification
 WSDP was initially requested to arrange a feasibility study for two LSE’s based on the possibilities of their companies obtaining (FSC) Certification. A team of two UK specialist International consultants undertook the study. The consultants recommended the companies either jointly or individually to pursue a course leading to FSC certification. As at the date of this print one company had confirmed its intention to follow the consultant’s recommendations. The result of the WSDP intervention in the private sector has helped to bring new impetus to the Forest Certification debate in Ghana.

The WSDP Programme finished at the end of December 2002. Undoubtedly the inputs and interventions have helped Ghana to take a ‘giant step forward’ in confronting the issue of sustainability together with developing high quality added value products. Such a programme could well provide the framework for other similar interventions; however there is still much work to be done and the market place can help by being aware and whenever possible accessing the new potential offered by the Ghanaian Woodworking Sector.

WSDP Secretariat
The WSDP has established a secretariat within the newly formed Timber Industries Development Division (TIDD).  The secretariat has been established to provide a sustainable linkage between the inputs delivered under the programme and the ongoing development needs of the beneficiary companies.  Equally, the secretariat provides advice and general information to those companies, both Ghanaian and foreign, that wish to independently progress their business interests.

Further Information
For further assistance or advice within the framework of sustainability and livelihood development designed to promote and nurture the commercial, economic and industrial interests of the timber and wood processing industries of Ghana and/or the rest of the world, then please e-mail your questions directly to us at  HadTim@aol.com.  

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