Boosting the bamboo value chain in local communities
The support programme for the development of the bamboo value chain in local municipalities was launched on 23 May 2023 with the signing of a partnership agreement between the Special Council Support Fund (FEICOM) and International Network. FEICOM's General Manager, Philippe Camille Akoa and Rene Kaam, Regional Director for the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR) for Central Africa, organised an information and awareness-raising workshop for municipal counsellors on 26 May 2023 on the support programme for the development of the bamboo value chain in decentralised local authorities (PADEFIB-CTD), with a view to promoting bamboo and rattan cultivation.
The meeting was intended to provide Cameroon with a national strategy for boosting the bamboo industry through the creation of local revenue sources, employment, the fight against climate change and the preservation of biodiversity. In addition to this open collaboration, the aim of this partnership is to create conditions for the effective implementation of the programme in its embryo stage, and to attract the interest of other FEICOM partners on the subject.
At the end of these discussions, recommendations were made to further enhance the bamboo industry by equipping local communities with bamboo processing factories to help them create plantations, improve the living conditions of the local population and ensure the sustainable management of the environment. The programme shall run for a period of 36 months with an estimated budget of 1.9 billion FCFA.
(Source: Summary Cameroon Tribune No. 12861/9060 of 29 may 2023