Value chain development and sustainability of bamboo housing in Ethiopia

Bamboo is a native forest resource of Ethiopia. The major causes of neglect, under-utilisation and destruction of the Ethiopian bamboo forests are insecurity of land rights, and lack of economic incentive to value bamboo as a useful commodity. Since bamboo is used intensively in rural areas near bamboo forests, the study advocates for the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) and the Ethiopian Government to cooperate, improve, strengthen and enhance technological knowhow of local communities in propagation, harvesting and sustainable natural resource management. The government should introduce bamboo into Ethiopian housing markets, to compete with conventional building materials