A workshop for stakeholders on the uses of this important plant ends today at the Ministry of External Relations.

A bicycle in bamboo made in Ghana, stands as a centre of attraction among the wide range of everyday use household and office products exhibited at the lobby of the main building of the Ministry of External Relations where a workshop for stakeholders on the uses of this important plant ends today after a solemn kick-off on August 5, 2016.

Comprised of mayors, craftsmen, and State officials from concerned ministries, the Stakeholders are edified on the values of bamboo and rattan plants in boosting the economy especially in mountainous and remote areas while raising their awareness on the development status and world trend of bamboo which is a treasure plant in Cameroon but yet underdeveloped as in Ghana, Ethiopia, India or even China where bamboo’s values are not only embodied in the real economy through high quality products, ecological and cultural products such as ecotourism and cultural tourism.

In an inaugural lecture, the trainer from xxx (IMBAR) based in China, Mrs Jin Wei said the three aspects of the training notably Bamboo plant and furniture, bamboo plantation and Bamboo construction will enable the trainees explore various possibilities of bamboo which is conducive to the ecology, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, income and job generation as well as improvement of livelihoods. The training, she recalled is the first of its type since Cameroon signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IMBAR in November 25 2013. “This training is President Paul Biya’s decision for local skills to be built on the sidelines of the Regional Workshop on Bamboo and Rattan to hold in Yaounde from 11 to 12 August, 2016,” said the representative of the Minister of External Relations, Tousse Juteau.

On his part the representative of the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife and Director of the Promotion and Transformation of Forestry Products, Mahamat Habibou underscored that the transformation of Bamboo gives rise to 1500 products touching all aspects of human life and accounts for over 60 billion US Dollars in world trade, ahead of banana.

Since 2010 over 200 Cameroonian stakeholders of the bamboo and rattan sector have been trained by IMBAR which is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 41 member states, 80 per cent of which are African States. One of IMBAR’s priorities is to provide tailored and targeted services to member countries to promote the recognition of Bamboo and Rattan in the national economy and in the developmental and social agenda.