Malawi is strewn with bamboos that have, like the grass that grows freely across the length and breadth of the country, look too common to be of any value.
Save for reed mats, there is not much that is associated with bamboo use in Malawi.
But, then, imagine that people started taking bamboos so seriously that they come up with plantations all over the country and, all of a sudden, the plant takes its rightful place in the society. Fortunately, some people have decided to do just that, putting bamboos in a unfamiliar but prominent position where it is being regarded as one of the tools for actualising the clean energy revolution.
Their hope, according to information we have gathered, is that bamboos will be taken as crucial in ensuring that Malawians embrace clean energy innovations as one way of contributing to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on reducing poverty (SDG 1) and increasing access to affordable and clean energy (SDG 7).
The other goals are premised on ensuring the actualisation of sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11); making sure that people embrace responsible consumption and production (SDG 12); ensure that global citizens take climate action (SDG 13); protect and safeguard life on land (SDG 15); and that people in United Nations member states embrace partnerships for the attainment of the goals (SDG 17).
As is always the case in human affairs, some people always take a lead role while others choose to watch from the sidelines.
It so happens that, apart from being Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe has started taking the lead in bamboo farming.
For a glimpse of this, one simply has to visit Lisoka Estate in Malawi’s capital, where a spectacle of hundreds of rows of giant bamboos greets those who care to visit and appreciate what is happening there.
Already, 20,000 villagers that surround the bamboo plantation, which is strategically located in an area called Walilanji, are generating income and sustaining their lives after landing jobs there.
The bamboos are flourishing on 200 hectares of land, making it one of the biggest bamboo plantations in Southern Africa.
The plantation produces 500 tonnes of charcoal made from Dendrocalamus Asper bamboo annually.
The plantation is five years old.
For the first two years, the bamboos were left to establish themselves, with their roots taking a tight grip of the soil, such that it is during the past three years that owners of the estate have been selling the bamboos.
It is during these three years that they have been harvesting 500 tonnes of bamboos, and turning them into charcoal, annually,
Lisoka Estate Managing Director Grant Blumrick explains that they settled for the idea of establishing the bamboo plantation as one way of curbing rampant deforestation in most protected areas in the Central Region.
“Bamboo farming is good but its extensive use will depend on how many companies and Malawians are willing to change their mindset when it comes to doing business, embracing energy or fuel sources and turning the bamboo into an alternative source of energy,” Blumrick stressed.
Already, some Malawians have taken advantage of the existence of the bamboo plantation in Lilongwe to make hay while the sun shines.
Take, for instance, Alfred Chisale, who has taken advantage of the bamboo estate at Lisoka to partner with the owners to meet the unmet needs of the largely untapped market.
He uses the bamboos to make charcoal and briquettes as he runs a charcoal burner business.
Giant wood bamboos are one of several trees and plants that can generate benefits for people while restoring soil fertility.
“Without doubt, planting and harvesting bamboos and using them as a source of fuel can help limit the depletion of the country’s tree cover and natural forests,” Chisale indicated.
Natural Resources and Climate Change Minister Michael Usi concurs with Chisale.
“Bamboo farming presents Malawi with untapped potential, in terms of embracing clean energy innovations and finding solutions to some of the challenges posed by climate change.
“It is high time Malawians embraced bamboo cultivation for charcoal and wood production. This is a viable alternative to the charcoal that is made from indigenous forest reserves. As such, if everyone could adopt the idea of planting bamboos as alternatives to charcoal and firewood use, the ecosystem in the country can be restored
“Giant woody bamboos can also sequester carbon, thereby playing a key role in mitigating some of the effects of climate change,” Usi emphasised.
Meanwhile, bamboo farming focal person Robert Mzumara has lauded strides being made in positioning bamboo farming strategically in the country.
“Bamboo farming is the easiest route out of poverty. Resource-constrained people can embrace the opportunity to improve their lives.
“In fact, during the time of harvesting the bamboos, community members, especially women, can lead in the production of bamboo-charcoal, getting a chance to earn income and make a decent living from it,” Mzumara stressed.
The fire of bamboo farming has quickly caught the imagination of tertiary education institutions.
One of them is the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas), which regards bamboo as a sustainable alternative to Malawi’s traditional energy sources.
One of the initiatives it has taken is the piloting of the Commercialisation of Bamboo for Firewood and Charcoal Production Project.
Mubas and other institutions recently received $40,000 (about K30,160,000) each in cash for implementation of innovative research ideas.
In the short term, 350 bamboo seedlings will be planted.
The projects have key principles that focus on innovation, radical ideas, technological and nature-based solutions, transformative effect, restoration of ecology integrity of land and forests as well as the building of resilient infrastructure in the face of disasters.
Mubas Commercialisation of Bamboo for Firewood and Charcoal Production Project Principal Investigator Suzgo Kaunda pointed out that they have taken advantage of the project to include a gender aspect by encouraging women to take part in the project.
“This is because bamboo cultivation can help Malawian women save their energy. I mean, they can stop covering long distances, often on foot, to fetch firewood from forests, which are sometimes unsafe as, while there, they face the risk of getting their rights violated [by rapists, for example]. Sometimes, they go to fetch firewood with their children, who are sometimes denied the chance to be in school [early childhood development centre or primary school],” he said.
He explained that the project will have a direct impact on the quality of life for women and children, more so because trees will be planted within the communities, which is considerably safer.
Charcoal is a key source of energy in most households in Malawi, where less than 12 percent of the population has access to electricity, which is not even reliable.
Recently, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) Board Chairperson Morgan Tembo said the organisation feels embarrassed when implementing load shedding programmes but was quick to say they have no choice since the country has power deficiencies.
Tembo said this at the Kamuzu International Airport upon arrival from Zambia, where Escom, government officials and chairperson for the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources Werani Chilenga went to attend the inauguration of Kefue Gorge Hydro Power Station.
Malawi has about 441 megawatts as its national capacity and eyes 1,000 megawatts by next year while Zambia has 3,600 megawatts as its national capacity and eyes 4,000 megawatts by next year.
However, people in both countries still depend on charcoal produced from natural forests as a source of energy.
Meanwhile, environmental management activist Julias Ng’oma has said high demand for charcoal is one of the factors that have contributed to forest depletion in the country.
“As such, if fully implemented, bamboo cultivation can put the pressure off natural resources.
“Indeed, if fully integrated, and bamboo operations are complemented by well managed nurseries and plantations, bamboo-processing factories can flourish and energy products such as paper and pulp could become one of the country’s major forex earners.
“As you know, ours is a fragile economy, mainly because we do not generate enough forex,” Ng’oma posited.
He further said bamboo farming was gaining prominence fast, such that it would not be long before it becomes a reliable source of fuelwood and timber.
While hardwood trees can take 30 years to mature and must be replanted post-harvest, the giant bamboo matures in only a handful of years and can be harvested every year for its entire lifecycle.
Malawi’s forest cover fell from 31.9 percent of total land area in 2000 to 31.2 percent in 2020, a net loss of almost 100 million hectares.
As such, bamboo farming stands a good chance of becoming part of the clean energy and SDG attainment equation, giving Malawi an alternative source of forex while strengthening its tree and forest cover conservation efforts.
Source: The daily times _Wednesday, March 29, 2023_By Rabecca Chimjeka