Further strengthening of the bamboo industry in Sri Lanka
View(s):
From left: Dr. Niels Schulz, Environmental Expert, UNIDO; Dr. Victor Brias, Bamboo Specialist, UNIDO; Nawaz Rajabdeen, National Director, UNIDO; Chief Guest Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce; Antonios Levissianos, Senior Industrial Development Officer, UNIDO Agribusiness Development Branch; Guest of Honor T.M.K.B. Tennekoon, Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and Spyridon Kleitsas, Management & Finance Expert- UNIDO.
A workshop was held recently in Colombo on “Strengthening the Bamboo Processing Industry in Sri Lanka” organised by the UNIDO Country Programme under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to promote and strengthen the bamboo sector in Sri Lanka. ”Bamboo Processing Sri Lanka” reflects the principles of Inclusive Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) which is the core of the new UNIDO mandate, pronounced in the 2013 Lima Declaration. The project started in 2012 and will last seven years until 2019, according to a media release issued by the UNIDO Sri Lanka office.
The project so far has covered important ground in researching potential of bamboo exploitation from both economic and scientific perspectives. The benefits of bamboo are manifold, in the case of local industries and in preserving environment. Bamboo requires minimal mechanisation, fertilisation and irrigation. Up to 20,000 ha of bamboo are expected to be developed by 2020 through the project, which has brought together the key stakeholders from the government, private sector, scientific community and the newly established National Bamboo Association of Sri Lanka (NBASL).
The next big step will be to draw up the National Bamboo strategy, which will ensure sustainability of the project after 2020. Public awareness is mandatory in parallel to policy-making, and UNIDO has already identified Kandy, Kalutara and Avissawella, ideal bamboo locations, for workshops in bamboo cultivation for farmers. In the meantime, identifying land for bamboo cultivation will continue forward and a market study is to be launched to complete the supply chain for the bamboo producers.